Rosie Boycott nominates the polar explorer Ernest Shackleton for assessment, and is joined by his granddaughter Alexandra.

01

03

The Michelin Brothers

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Terence Conran nominates for assessment the Michelin brothers, inventors of pneumatic tyres and the famous food guide.Sir Terence Conran nominates the Michelin brothers, makers of the detachable pneumatic tyre. With Joan Bakewell. From 2001.The biographical series in which a distinguished guest chooses someone who's inspired their life. Will their hero stand up to intensive scrutiny and merit the description of having led a great life?Sir Terence Conran nominates the Michelin brothers, makers of the pneumatic tyre.

01

04

Friedrich Nietzsche

20010914

20140529 (R4+)20140530 (R4+)

Ralph Steadman nominates the much-maligned philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche for reassessment.Joining him to discuss Nietzsche's life and work is Polish poet and translator Adam Czerniawski.Cartoonist Ralph Steadman and translator Adam Czerniawski discuss the philosopher's life.4 Extra Debut. Cartoonist Ralph Steadman and translator Adam Czerniawski discuss the life of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. With Humphrey Carpenter. From September 2001.

01

05

Sylvia Pankhurst

20010921

20140606 (R4+)

Barbara Castle nominates Sylvia Pankhurst, the most radical of that family of suffragettes, for assessment.Barbara Castle and biographer Mary Davis discuss the life of suffragette Sylvia Pankhurst.Barbara Castle and biographer Mary Davis discuss the life of suffragette Sylvia Pankhurst. With Joan Bakewell. From September 2001.

01

06

Henri Matisse

20010928

20140612 (R4+)20140613 (R4+)

Frank Delaney nominates the great French artist Henri Matisse for assessment, and is joined by Matisse's biographer Hilary SpurlingWriter Frank Delaney and biographer Hilary Spurling discuss the painter Henri Matisse.Writer Frank Delaney and biographer Hilary Spurling discuss the painter Henri Matisse. With Humphrey Carpenter. From September 2001.The biographical series in which a distinguished guest chooses someone who has inspired their life. Will their hero stand up to intensive scrutiny and merit the description of having led a great life?

01

07

Marshall Mcluhan

20011005

20140619 (R4+)20140620 (R4+)

Jonathan Miller nominates for discussion Marshall McLuhan, Canadian writer on media, and is joined by Kim Henry Veltman of the McLuhan Institute.Kim Henry Veltman joins director Jonathan Miller to discuss the Canadian writer on media.Academic Kim Henry Veltman joins director Jonathan Miller to discuss Marshall McLuhan, Canadian writer on media. From 2001.The biographical series in which a distinguished guest chooses someone who's inspired their life. Will their hero stand up to intensive scrutiny and merit the description of having led a great life?

01

08

H G Wells

20011012

20140508 (R4+)20140509 (R4+)

Writer Fay Weldon and biographer Vincent Brome discuss the life of the visionary novelist.Writer Fay Weldon and biographer Vincent Brome discuss the life of visionary novelist HG Wells. With Humphrey Carpenter. From 2001.The biographical series in which a distinguished guest chooses someone who's inspired their life. Will their hero stand up to intensive scrutiny and merit the description of having led a great life?Fay Weldon proposes the writer and visionary H G Wells, and is joined by his biographer Vincent Brome, who met Wells and many of his mistresses.

Racing driver Jackie Stewart discusses King Hussein of Jordan with writer Patrick Seale.Racing driver Jackie Stewart discusses his good friend King Hussein of Jordan with writer Patrick Seale.The biographical series in which a distinguished guest chooses someone who's inspired their life. Will their hero stand up to intensive scrutiny and merit the description of having led a great life? From 2001.Biography discussion series.Racing driver Jackie Stewart proposes his friend King Hussein of Jordan for examination, and is joined by writer Patrick Seale and Joan Bakewell

Elizabeth Filkin talks to Humphrey Carpenter about Mary Ann Evans, better known as the great novelist George EliotEx-parliamentary standards commissioner Elizabeth Filkin on the novelist George Eliot.Ex-parliamentary standards commissioner Elizabeth Filkin on the novelist George Eliot. With Humphrey Carpenter. From 2002.The biographical series in which a distinguished guest chooses someone who's inspired their life. Will their hero stand up to intensive scrutiny and merit the description of having led a great life?

02

03

Franz Schubert

20020614

20140731 (R4+)20140801 (R4+)

Series of biographical discussions.Renowned cellist Steven Isserlis talks to Humphrey Carpenter about Franz Schubert, with contributions from musicologist Brian Newbould.Cellist Steven Isserlis and musicologist Brian Newbould on the composer Franz Schubert.Ex-parliamentary standards commissioner Elizabeth Filkin on the novelist George Eliot. With Humphrey Carpenter. From 2002.The biographical series in which a distinguished guest chooses someone who's inspired their life. Will their hero stand up to intensive scrutiny and merit the description of having led a great life?

02

04

Field Marshal Viscount Slim

20020621

Series profiling some notable figures.Lord Carrington nominates Field Marshal Viscount Slim, whom he first met in 1950s Australia.

02

05

Alexander The Great

20020628

20140814 (R4+)20140815 (R4+)

Series of biographical discussions with Humphrey Carpenter.Author and screenwriter Frederic Raphael selects Alexander the Great.With classical historian Prof Tony Spawforth.Writer Frederic Raphael chooses part man, part myth - Alexander the Great. With Humphrey Carpenter.The biographical series in which a distinguished guest chooses someone who's inspired their life. Will their hero stand up to intensive scrutiny and merit the description of having led a great life? From 2002.Writer Frederic Raphael chooses part man, part myth Alexander the Great.4 Extra Debut. Writer Frederic Raphael chooses part man, part myth Alexander the Great. With Humphrey Carpenter. From June 2002.

02

06

Marquis De Sade

20020705

20101106 (R7)

Series of biographical discussions with Humphrey Carpenter.Janet Street-porter talks about the Marquis de Sade - a perverted pornographer or an intellectual freedom fighter?Sex-crazed diabolical criminal or bold, free-thinking radical? Janet Street Porter argues her case for the French libertine.Sex-crazed diabolical criminal or bold, free-thinking radical?

02

07

Louis Armstrong

20020712

20140821 (R4+)20140822 (R4+)

Series of biographical discussions with Humphrey Carpenter.Jazz trumpeter Chris Barber talks about one of the all-time greats - Louis ArmstrongBand leader Chris Barber chooses the legendary jazz trumpeter, Louis Armstrong. With Humphrey Carpenter.The biographical series in which a distinguished guest chooses someone who's inspired their life. Will their hero stand up to intensive scrutiny and merit the description of having led a great life? From July 2002.Band leader Chris Barber chooses the legendary jazz trumpeter, Louis Armstrong.4 Extra Debut. Band leader Chris Barber chooses the legendary jazz trumpeter, Louis Armstrong. With Humphrey Carpenter.

02

08

Lord Byron

20020719

20140904 (R4+)20140905 (R4+)

Series of biographical discussions with Humphrey Carpenter.Writer and columnist Sue Limb talks about Lord Byron, a man famously branded "mad, bad and dangerous to know'.Writer Sue Limb chooses the 'mad, bad and dangerous to know' poet, Lord Byron.4 Extra Debut. Writer Sue Limb chooses the 'mad, bad and dangerous to know' poet, Lord Byron. With Humphrey Carpenter.The biographical series in which a distinguished guest chooses someone who's inspired their life. Will their hero stand up to intensive scrutiny and merit the description of having led a great life? From 2002.

02

09

Tom Spring

20020726

20140911 (R4+)20140912 (R4+)

Series of biographical discussions with Humphrey Carpenter.Sports journalist Frank Keating talks about 19th-century bare-knuckle boxer Tom Spring.4 Extra Debut. Sports journalist Frank Keating talks about 19th-century bare-knuckle boxer Tom Spring. With Humphrey Carpenter. From July 2002.The biographical series in which a distinguished guest chooses someone who's inspired their life. Will their hero stand up to intensive scrutiny and merit the description of having led a great life?

Series of biographical discussions with Humphrey Carpenter.Bernard Manning assesses the achievements of Mother Teresa.Also in the studio is biographer Anne Sebba.Comedian Bernard Manning assesses the achievements of Mother Teresa of Calcutta.Comedian Bernard Manning assesses the achievements of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. With Humphrey Carpenter and biographer Anne Sebba. From October 2002.

03

02

Erasmus Darwin

20021025

20141009 (R4+)20141010 (R4+)

Series of biographical discussions with Humphrey Carpenter.Nobel Prize winner Paul Nurse discusses Erasmus Darwin, grandfather of Charles DarwinPaul Nurse discusses scientist, inventor and poet Erasmus Darwin, grandfather of Charles.Nobel prize winning scientist Sir Paul Nurse chooses Charles Darwin's grandfather, Erasmus. With Humphrey Carpenter.The biographical series in which a distinguished guest chooses someone who's inspired their life. Will their hero stand up to intensive scrutiny and merit the description of having led a great life? From 2002.

03

03

C L R James

20021101

20141023 (R4+)20141024 (R4+)

Series of biographical discussions with Humphrey Carpenter.Writer and broadcaster Darcus Howe discusses his uncle, the Trinidadian sportsman, writer and revolutionary C L R James.Darcus Howe discusses his uncle, the sportsman, writer and revolutionary CLR James.Darcus Howe chooses activist and philosopher CLR James, with help from his biographer Farrukh Dhondy. Presented by Humphrey Carpenter.The biographical series in which a distinguished guest chooses someone who's inspired their life. Will their hero stand up to intensive scrutiny and merit the description of having led a great life? From 2002.

03

04

Rachel Carson

20021108

20141030 (R4+)20141031 (R4+)

Series of biographical discussions with Humphrey Carpenter.Bea Campbell discusses the writer and environmentalist Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring.Writer Bea Campbell chooses pioneering environmental protection scientist Rachel Carson.Writer Bea Campbell chooses pioneering environmental protection scientist Rachel Carson. With Humphrey Carpenter.The biographical series in which a distinguished guest chooses someone who's inspired their life. Will their hero stand up to intensive scrutiny and merit the description of having led a great life? From 2002.

03

05

M R James

20021115

20141106 (R4+)20141107 (R4+)

Series of biographical discussions with Humphrey Carpenter.Muriel Gray and Christopher Frayling discuss the life of ghost story writer M R JamesWriter and broadcaster Muriel Gray chooses ghost story writer, MR James. With Humphrey Carpenter.The biographical series in which a distinguished guest chooses someone who's inspired their life. Will their hero stand up to intensive scrutiny and merit the description of having led a great life? From 2002.4 Extra Debut. Muriel Gray and Christopher Frayling discuss the life of ghost story writer MR James. With Humphrey Carpenter. From November 2002.

03

06

Umm Kulthum

20021122

20141113 (R4+)20141114 (R4+)

Series of biographical discussions with Humphrey Carpenter.Novelist Ahdaf Soueif and biographer Virginia Danielson discuss the life of Egyptian diva Umm Kulthum.Novelist Ahdaf Soueif chooses acclaimed Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum as his great life.Novelist Ahdaf Soueif chooses legendary Egyptian singer, Umm Kulthum. With Humphrey Carpenter.The biographical series in which a distinguished guest chooses someone who's inspired their life. Will their hero stand up to intensive scrutiny and merit the description of having led a great life? From 2002.

03

07

Benedict Spinoza

20021129

20141120 (R4+)20141121 (R4+)

Series of biographical discussions with Humphrey Carpenter.Professor Harry Kroto explores his abiding belief in Humanism and passion for the philosophy of Benedict Spinoza.Nobel Prize-winning chemist Sir Harry Kroto chooses the philosopher Benedict Spinoza.Nobel Prize-winning chemist Sir Harry Kroto chooses the philosopher Spinoza. With Humphrey Carpenter.The biographical series in which a distinguished guest chooses someone who's inspired their life. Will their hero stand up to intensive scrutiny and merit the description of having led a great life? From 2002.

03

08

James Gillray

20021206

20141127 (R4+)20141128 (R4+)

Series of biographical discussions with Humphrey Carpenter.Guardian cartoonist Steve Bell discusses the achievements of 18th-century caricaturist James Gillray.Political cartoonist Steve Bell chooses the 18th-century caricaturist James Gillray.Political cartoonist Steve Bell chooses the 18th century caricaturist James Gillray. With Sheila O'Connell, curator of prints and drawings at British Museum and actor James Bolam. Presented by Humphrey Carpenter.The biographical series in which a distinguished guest chooses someone who's inspired their life. Will their hero stand up to intensive scrutiny and merit the description of having led a great life? From 2002.

03

09

Richard Crossman

20021213

20141204 (R4+)20141205 (R4+)

Series of biographical discussions with Humphrey Carpenter.Tam Dalyell MP discusses the life of Richard Crossman, for whom he worked during the Wilson government of the 1960s.Politician Tam Dalyell chooses cabinet minister and political diarist Richard Crossman.Politician Tam Dalyell chooses cabinet minister and political diarist, Richard Crossman. With Humphrey Carpenter.The biographical series in which a distinguished guest chooses someone who's inspired their life. Will their hero stand up to intensive scrutiny and merit the description of having led a great life? From 2002.

03

10 LAST

Captain James Cook

20021220

20141211 (R4+)20141212 (R4+)

Series of biographical discussions with Humphrey Carpenter.BBC Director-General Greg Dyke talks about Captain James Cook with Professor Glyn Williams.Media executive and broadcaster Greg Dyke chooses explorer Captain James Cook.4 Extra Debut. Media executive and broadcaster Greg Dyke chooses explorer Captain James Cook. With Humphrey Carpenter. From December 2002.The biographical series in which a distinguished guest chooses someone who's inspired their life. Will their hero stand up to intensive scrutiny and merit the description of having led a great life?

04

01

Captain Robert Scott

20030404

The biographical series Great Lives returns for a new run of ten programmes, beginning this week with Beryl Bainbridge nominating her dead hero, Robert Falcon Scott.Scott's defeat by the Norwegian Amundsen in the race to the South Pole, and his failure to bring his men back alive, have caused frequent re-workings of his reputation.This stern, unbending naval man appears to represent many of the failings of old imperial Britain.But from her research for her novel ""The Birthday Boys"", Beryl Bainbridge believes she unearthed a different man, an adventurer and a romantic, whose eyes turned from blue to purple whenever he became amorous.As well as rare archive of Scott's companions on his southerly trips, the programme contains accounts of his love for the bohemian sculptor, Katherine Bruce, and evidence of his friendship with JM Barrie, creator of Peter Pan.The idea for the Lost Boys, Bainbridge believes, came from Scott.Bob Headland, archivist of the Scott Polar Institute provides the cooler evidence, including an account of the numerous mistakes Scott made, while Humphrey Carpenter will be keeping the expert and the nominator apart should a scrap break out.".

Poet Benjamin Zephaniah joins Humphrey Carpenter to explore the life of reggae legend Bob Marley.From his musical origins in the squalor and dynamism of the Trench Town district of Kingston, Jamaica to global superstardom, Marley remained passionate about music with a message.Marley biographer Chris Salewicz also helps to explore why, since his death in 1981, Marley's stature in the developing world has grown from rebel leader to redeeming hero.Poet Benjamin Zephaniah explores the life of reggae legend Bob Marley.Poet Benjamin Zephaniah explores the life of reggae legend Bob Marley. With Humphrey Carpenter and Chris Salewicz.The biographical series in which a distinguished guest chooses someone who's inspired their life.Will their hero stand up to intensive scrutiny and merit the description of having led a great life? From 2003.

04

05

James Hogg

20030502

20150108 (R4+)20150109 (R4+)

Geneticist Steve Jones chooses a 19th century fiddle-playing shepherd and writer James Hogg, for his intuitive understanding of the nature of madness.Author of the fantastically titled Private Memoirs And Confessions Of A Justified Sinner, Hogg was considered coarse and vulgar by the refined writers of genteel Edinburgh society, but Steve Jones believes that his talents have been overlooked.Joining him and presenter Humphrey Carpenter in the studio is Hogg biographer Karl Miller.Geneticist Steve Jones chooses 19th-century fiddle-playing shepherd and writer James Hogg.4 Extra Debut. Geneticist Steve Jones chooses 19th-century fiddle-playing shepherd and writer James Hogg. With Humphrey Carpenter. From May 2003.

04

06

G K Chesterton

20030509

Joining presenter Humphrey Carpenter and Richard Ingrams in the studio is the chairman of the Chesterton Society, Denis Conlon to talk about the life of G K Chesterton.Richard Ingrams comments, 'I have chosen G K Chesterton, partly because he was always proud to describe himself as a journalist.He was proud to write for the ordinary man, and it followed from that he was a democrat.He genuinely believed the ordinary person was the best judge of everything.' As well many of Chesterton's finer sayings - the Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult, and left untried - we'll hear two recordings of the great man himself, and a lengthy debate about which actor could possibly step into Alec Guiness' shoes and bring Father Brown back to life.Joining presenter Humphrey Carpenter and Richard Ingrams in the studio is the chairman of the Chesterton Society, Denis Conlon, who has an odd little tale about the Argentinean ambassador's efforts to have Chesterton canonised, and new information on Chesterton's brush with the occult.

04

07

Michael Powell And Emeric Pressburger

20030516

Humphrey Carpenter is joined by jazz singer, Stacey Kent to explore the lives of film-makers, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.And Ian Christie looks at the reputation of The Archers.

04

08

The Man In The Iron Mask

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20150122 (R4+)20150123 (R4+)

Military historian Richard Holmes nominates The Man In The Iron Mask, and Humphrey Carpenter is joined in the studio by historian John Noone to reveal the man behind the Mask.But is this a real life of a great legend?Military historian Richard Holmes nominates the mysterious Man in the Iron Mask.Military historian Richard Holmes nominates the mysterious Man in the Iron Mask. With Humphrey Carpenter and John Noone. From May 2003.The biographical series in which a distinguished guest chooses someone who's inspired their life. Will their hero stand up to intensive scrutiny and merit the description of having led a great life?

04

09

David Lloyd George

20030530

20150205 (R4+)20150206 (R4+)

Tanni Grey-Thompson winner of nine paralympic gold medals, picks her Welsh compatriot, David Lloyd George, for great life status.Humphrey Carpenter ensures that national pride doesn't cloud her appraisal of this controversial Liberal Prime Minister.Athlete Tanni Grey-Thompson chooses her Welsh compatriot, politician David Lloyd George.Athlete Tanni Grey-Thompson chooses her Welsh compatriot, politician David Lloyd George. With Humphrey Carpenter.The biographical series in which a distinguished guest chooses someone who's inspired their life. Will their hero stand up to intensive scrutiny and merit the description of having led a great life? From 2003.

04

10

Elizabeth The First

20030606

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Campaigning broadcaster Esther Rantzen nominates Queen Elizabeth I, an apparently masterful political player who enjoyed vast power whilst maintaining the devotion of the entire nation.Was she always in control, or was she carefully manipulated by her own spin-doctors and counsellors? Also joining presenter Humphrey Carpenter in the studio is historian Dr John Guy.Broadcaster and campaigner Esther Rantzen chooses Queen Elizabeth I.Broadcaster and campaigner Esther Rantzen chooses Queen Elizabeth I. With Humphrey Carpenter.The biographical series in which a distinguished guest chooses someone who's inspired their life. Will their hero stand up to intensive scrutiny and merit the description of having led a great life? From 2003.

04

Dr Samuel Johnson

20150528 (R4+)20150529 (R4+)

Poet Kit Wright chooses author and creator of the English dictionary, Dr Samuel Johnson. With Humphrey Carpenter. From October 2003.Poet Kit Wright chooses author and creator of the English dictionary, Dr Samuel Johnson.

Poet Kit Wright proposes Samuel Johnson for great life status, in an edition from the Birmingham Book Festival.

05

03

Flora Sandes

20031017

20150312 (R4+)20150313 (R4+)

Series of biographical discussions with Humphrey Carpenter.Veteran war reporter, Kate Adie, has long been an admirer of Flora Sandes, who became the first commissioned female officer of the modern British Army during the First World War.Humphrey Carpenter and military historian Julie Wheelwright join Kate at the Birmingham Book Festival to entertain an audience with the fascinating story of Captain Sandes.Kate Adie discusses Britain's first commissioned female officer in World War One.Kate Adie on Flora Sandes, Britain's first commissioned female officer in World War One. With Humphrey Carpenter. From 2003.The biographical series in which a distinguished guest chooses someone who's inspired their life. Will their hero stand up to intensive scrutiny and merit the description of having led a great life? From 2003.

05

04

Sarah Bernhardt

20031024

20150226 (R4+)20150227 (R4+)

Comedienne Jenny Eclair selects the Madonna of the Victorian era as her example of a Great Life.She joins presenter Humphrey Carpenter, theatre historian Elaine Aston and actress Frances Barber to shed light on the acclaimed tragedienne Sarah Bernhardt, arguably the world's first international superstar.Comedienne Jenny Eclair chooses one of the first acting superstars, Sarah Bernhardt. With Humphrey Carpenter.The biographical series in which a distinguished guest chooses someone who's inspired their life. Will their hero stand up to intensive scrutiny and merit the description of having led a great life? From 2003.Comedienne Jenny Eclair chooses one of the first acting superstars, Sarah Bernhardt.

05

05

Bernardo O'higgins

20031031

20150305 (R4+)20150306 (R4+)

The former Beirut hostage Brian Keenan joins Humphrey Carpenter in the studio to champion Bernardo O'Higgins, the Liberator of Chile.The case for this unlikely sounding illegitimate child of an Irish adventurer is backed up by the Latin American specialist, Hugh O'Shaughnessy.Writer Brian Keenan chooses Bernardo O'Higgins, who liberated Chile in the 19th century.Writer Brian Keenan chooses Bernardo O'Higgins who liberated Chile in the 19th century. With Humphrey Carpenter.The biographical series in which a distinguished guest chooses someone who's inspired their life. Will their hero stand up to intensive scrutiny and merit the description of having led a great life? From 2003.

Sir Clement Freud selects comedian Tommy Cooper as his choice of a Great Life.Together with presenter Humphrey Carpenter and biographer Jeremy Novick he explains why he found the big man in the fez and the size 13 shoes so memorable and entertaining.Writer and broadcaster Clement Freud chooses comedian Tommy Cooper.Writer and broadcaster Clement Freud chooses comedian Tommy Cooper. With Humphrey Carpenter. From November 2003.

In the first programme of the series, Lord Alistair McAlpine, the former treasurer of the Conservative party under Margaret Thatcher, nominates Niccolo Machiavelli.Machiavelli's name has become a byword for low cunning and unprincipled scheming - but is that reputation deserved, and was Mrs Thatcher a true Machiavellian?

06

02

Ernest Bevin

20040409

Former Chancellor of the Exchequer Denis Healey examines the life of his hero, Labour's post-war Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin.How did an agricultural labourer who left school at 11 scale such political heights? The discussion is chaired by Humphrey Carpenter, and Bevin biographer Professor Brian Brivati adds extra expertise.

06

03

Tchaikovsky

20040416

20150423 (R4+)20150424 (R4+)

is the subject of this week's Great Lives, chosen by Ruth Lea, economist and head of the Centre for Policy Studies.Humphrey Carpenter chairs the discussion, and looks at some of the myths that surround the life and death of the Russian composer.Did he commit suicide or die of cholera, and was he troubled by his homosexuality? Music critic and writer Stephen Johnson adds his expertise, and the programme comes from the Oxford Literary Festival.Economist Ruth Lea chooses the great Russian composer. Stephen Johnson adds his expertise.Economist Ruth Lea chooses the great Russian composer. Music critic and writer Stephen Johnson adds his expertise. With Humphrey Carpenter. From April 2004.

06

04

Tom Paine

20040423

20150430 (R4+)20150501 (R4+)

In a programme from the Oxford literary festival, radical author and activist George Monbiot champions the cause of Tom Paine, the eighteenth century writer who was at the centre of both the American and French revolutions.Why was a man who strongly influenced the American declaration of independence eventually disowned by his adopted country?Chad Goodwin, chairman of the Thomas Paine society, lends his support, and the discussion is chaired by Humphrey CarpenterWriter and political activist George Monbiot chooses 18th-century revolutionary Tom Paine.With Humphrey Carpenter.From April 2004.

06

05

Nelson

20040430

20150507 (R4+)

Explorer Benedict Allen has always admired Horatio Nelson, England's greatest naval hero.When Benedict was near to death in the Amazon, he thought of Nelson - who also nearly died in Central America - and his powerful sense of duty.But Nelson's reputation is not as secure as it once was, and in France and Italy he is considered a war criminal because of a controversial episode in Naples.With the help of biographer Terry Coleman, the programme assesses Nelson's strengths and weaknesses.The programme is chaired by Humphrey CarpenterExplorer Benedict Allen chooses Horatio Nelson. With biographer Terry Coleman. Presenter Humphrey Carpenter. From April 2004.

06

06

Lyndon B Johnson

20040507

20150514 (R4+)20150515 (R4+)

Charles Wheeler, the veteran BBC television reporter, thinks that history has been unfair to the Texan 'fixer' who was thrust into power with the assassination of John F Kennedy and left office to the sound of demonstrators yelling 'How many kids did you kill today?'.Lyndon Johnson, he tells presenter Humphrey Carpenter, is the greatest of all the American presidents since Roosevelt.With the help of L B J 's biographer Robert Dallek, he explains why.Veteran journalist Charles Wheeler chooses the USA's 36th president.Veteran journalist Charles Wheeler chooses the USA's 36th president, Lyndon Johnson. With Humphrey Carpenter. From May 2004.

06

07

Edith Wharton - Kimberly Fortier

20040514

20150604 (R4+)20150605 (R4+)

Publisher Kimberly Fortier chooses American writer Edith Wharton.4 Extra Debut. Publisher Kimberly Fortier chooses American writer Edith Wharton. With Professor Janet Beer and Humphrey Carpenter. From May 2004.Kimberly Fortier is a lively American writer who now works in London where she is the publisher of The Spectator.For her 'great life' she has chosen another lively American writer who moved to Europe.Edith Wharton, the author of 40 books including 'The House of Mirth' and 'The Age of Innocence', was also an intrepid traveller, a refugee-worker during the First World War and a connoisseur of architecture and design.Wharton expert Janet Beer supplies the details.7/10.Edith Wharton Kimberly Fortier is a lively American writer who now works in London where she is the publisher of The Spectator.

06

08

Anton Chekhov - Richard Eyre

20040521

Sir Richard Eyre is one of Britain's greatest theatre directors and, invited by Humphrey Carpenter to nominate a 'great life', he has chosen one of the world's greatest writers.Born in provincial Russia, and dead at the age of 44 exactly a hundred years ago, Dr Chekhov was an unlikely candidate for greatness, but with a few great plays and hundreds of stories he became 'the nearest rival to Shakespeare'.Chekhov's latest biographer, Rosalind Bartlett, helps to explain how he achieved this.

06

09

Benjamin Disraeli

20040528

20150618 (R4+)20150619 (R4+)

Tory MP and former Chancellor Kenneth Clarke explains to Humphrey Carpenter why he believes that Disraeli, the Victorian statesman and novelist, lived a great life.Also exploring Disraeli's colourful and flamboyant character and career is historian Jane Ridley.Kenneth Clarke chooses the Victorian politician, Benjamin Disraeli.4 Extra Debut. Kenneth Clarke chooses the Victorian politician, Benjamin Disraeli. With Humphrey Carpenter and Jane Ridley. From May 2004.

06

10 LAST

Joseph Banks

20040604

20150625 (R4+)20150626 (R4+)

President of the Royal Society Lord May champions the life of a naturalist and botanist who sailed with Captain Cook on the Endeavour and 'discovered' Australia, as well as collecting enough specimens to stock the Natural History Museum.Historian Patricia Fara explains what Joseph Banks did for science, whilst presenter Humphrey Carpenter referees.Scientist Lord Robert May nominates the naturalist and botanist, Joseph Banks.4 Extra Debut. Scientist Lord Robert May nominates the naturalist and botanist, Joseph Banks. With Humphrey Carpenter. From June 2004.

07

01

Gilbert And Sullivan

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Few musicians divide people quite as much as Gilbert and Sullivan.However, Dillie Keane is certain in her choice of them as examples of lives well led.The founder of cabaret group Fascinating Aida is helped along by the expertise of film director Mike Leigh, as Dillie explains to Humphrey Carpenter why she's a life-long fan of their comic operettas: quite unlike those detractors who cringe at the mere mention of the Pirates of Penzance!"Michael Collins" was originally scheduled for this date, but pulled at the last moment for production quality.Actress Dillie Keane chooses the musical duo Gilbert and Sullivan. With Mike Leigh. Presented by Humphrey Carpenter. From October 2004.Actress Dillie Keane chooses the musical duo Gilbert and Sullivan.

07

02

Robert Fitzroy

20041008

20150709 (R4+)20150710 (R4+)

Humphrey Carpenter is joined by Baroness Jay, former Leader of the House of Lords, to discuss the life of Admiral Robert FitzRoy, best known as captain of Darwins Beagle, and who went on to found the Met Office.Science writer John Gribbin fills in the gaps in FitzRoys life, and celebrates the fact that sea area Finisterre was recently renamed after him.Baroness Margaret Jay chooses pioneering meteorologist Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy.With Humphrey Carpenter.

07

03

Vivien Leigh

20041015

Barrister Christina Gorna offers an enthusiastic nomination of Vivien Leigh.She is joined in the studio by biographer Hugo Vickers to assess this charismatic star of stage and screen and of whom it was once said that if found naked in the Sahara Desert with absolutely nothing, she would leave twenty-four hours later "in a Rolls-Royce, covered in minks and drinking champagne.".

07

04

Leonard Woolf

20041022

Television's favourite wine-expert Jilly Goolden, invited to nominate a 'great life', has chosen the writer and political thinker Leonard Woolf.Amazingly, the husband of the great novelist Virginia Woolf and founder of the Hogarth Press has never had a full-length biography devoted to him.Now Victoria Glendinning is writing one - and she joins Jilly and presenter Humphrey Carpenter to consider the life of one of the key members of the 'Bloomsbury Group'.

07

05

Burt Lancaster

20041029

Burt Lancaster started as a circus performer and became the biggest Hollywood star of his time.He could be as sinister as Cagney, as sensitive as Brando and as swashbuckling as Flynn - but the only role he ever played was himself.Broadcaster Gerry Anderson - also famous for being himself - discusses the star's complex talent and complicated life with biographer Kate Buford and presenter Humphrey Carpenter

07

06

Marvin Gaye

20041105

Outstanding American soul singer Marvin Gaye met an untimely death at the hands of his own father twenty years ago.He's the choice of art historian and broadcaster, Tim Marlow.Presenter Humphrey Carpenter is also joined by DJ Norman Jay to shed light on the musician who broke the Motown mould with such classics as 'I Heard it Through the Grapevine'.

07

07

George Orwell - Shami Chakrabarti

20041112

Shami Chakrabarti is a civil rights campaigner, so it's no surprise that she's chosen to talk to Humphrey Carpenter about the man who invented 'Big Brother' and wrote the anti-Stalinist fable 'Animal Farm'.But George Orwell also defended the saturation bombing of German cities and contributed names to a Government blacklist of suspected Communists.As his biographer D.J.Taylor points out, the man who wrote 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' was as complicated in his politics as he was in his love-life.

07

08

Sir Edward Elgar

20041119

The man whose portrait appears on the twenty-pound note claimed that his pet rabbit wrote songs with him and sent a little girl out with a butterfly net to catch notes for his next composition.Marjorie Wallace, founder of the campaigning charity 'SANE', loves Elgar's music but suggests that to achieve its sublime beauty he had to struggle all his life against depression and despair.Also joining Humphrey Carpenter for this investigation of the 'Enigma' man is Elgar's biographer Jerrold Northrop-Moore.

The poet Douglas Dunn tells Francine Stock that the first book he ever read was Treasure Island and he's loved its author ever since.Claire Harman, who's written the latest biography, fills in the details of a short but energetic life that began in Edinburgh and ended on the island of Samoa.

08

05

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

20050429

The biography series where the living nominate the dead.Children's Laureate Michael Morpurgo nominates Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.The three-year-old Mozart, we are told by his father Leopold, could master new instruments in a matter of minutes.By his death at the age of 35 he had composed some of the greatest music ever.But in between, his life was marked by rejection and the relentless hunt for a secure income.Michael Morpurgo nominates il maestrino on the grounds that he can think of no other person who has given future generations so much pleasure.The question Francine Stock seeks to answer is whether The Magic Flute and Don Giovanni would have ever been written if Mozart had not been pushed so hard as a boy.Music journalist Stephen Johnson is on hand to give expert advice on Mozart's development, from his increasingly strained relationship with his father Leopold, to the effect of his heart break at the hands of Aloysia Weber and the death of his mother from typhus, for which Leopold in part held him responsible.Mozart the genius is compared with the Mozart of public imagination (largely the work of Peter Shaffer's Amadeus); and we also hear what it was like for composers in an age when they were little more than the servants of their patrons, placed somewhere in the hierarchy between the cook and the valet.

08

06

John D Rockefeller

20050506

Martin Smith, head of the English National Opera, nominates John D Rockefeller.John D Rockefeller was for a time the richest, and perhaps most hated, man in the world.Creator of Standard Oil, father of Mobil, Chevron, Exxon and Amoco, his net worth in 1913 was $900m, much of it acquired controversially - and then he began to give it all away.Bertrand Russell reckoned two men were supreme in creating the modern world: Rockefeller and Bismarck.Rockefeller's proposer is Martin Smith, a financier with a highly developed interest in the arts.He's involved with the Orchestra of the Age of the Enlightenment, and the Science Museum, among other organisations, and he's chairman of the English National Opera, to whom he donated £1 million in 2001.He admires Rockefeller as a brilliant businessman in an age when the rules were not yet written, but is unclear on whether he is a sinner or a saint.Eric Homberger, professor of American Studies at UEA, provides the background detail on the father, Devil Bill, and the events leading up to the Cleveland Massacre of 1872, when strong arm tactics led Rockefeller to take control of 22 of 26 refineries in the area, and the Rockefeller millions were made.

Margaret Thatcher's foreign affairs advisor, Lord Powell, proposes Ronald Reagan.In February 1954, Ronald Reagan performed a two-week stint as the emcee at The Last Frontier in Las Vegas.Professionally, it was the low point of an astonishing life that encompassed major Hollywood contracts, marriage to Jane Wyman and Nancy Davis, and the belated discovery that he was, in politics at least, pure box-office magic.'Tear down this wall, Mr Gorbachev', remains one of the great lines of the last century.Charles Powell, who was present at every meeting and phone call Margaret Thatcher had with the President, claims there was far more to his personality than the public perceived.Reagan set deceptively simple goals, and achieved them spectacularly well.The question is, how much glory should he claim?Edmund Morris, author of the controversial Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan is on hand to offer the biographer's view.Francine Stock presents the biography series where the living nominate the dead for great life status.

08

10 LAST

The Duke Of Wellington

20050603

When the Duke of Wellington died, the hero of Waterloo had become a deeply unpopular Prime Minister whom some accused of trying to be a dictator.The novelist Freddie Forsyth proposes Wellington as this week's Great Life and discusses the Duke's astonishing career with historian Andrew Roberts and presenter Francine Stock

09

01

Mae West

20051007

'It's better to be looked over, than overlooked'.As the blondest bombshell of them all and one of Hollywood's most outrageously camp icons, Mae West was certainly never ignored during a career spanning almost seven decades.As a novelist, playwright, businesswoman, producer and performer - she always attracted scandal, controversy and men.The writer Kathy Lette proposes Mae West as the first 'Great Life' in this new series, and discusses the queen of the quip with biographer Simon Louvish and presenter Francine Stock

09

02

R D Laing

20051014

In the 1960s R.D.Laing was hailed as one of the greatest philosophers of his age.His revolutionary ideas on madness and the human condition threw the world of psychiatry into turmoil and made him a hero to a generation of young people determined to expand their minds.But was the Glaswegian psychiatrist a genius or a huckster? Carole Stone and Laing's son, Adrian, discuss the charismatic guru with Francine Stock

09

03

Samuel Coleridge-taylor

20051021

Samuel Coleridge Taylor's great oratorio, Hiawatha's Wedding Feast, outperformed Handel's Messiah at the turn of the 19th century.The first Black musician to attend The Royal College of Music, he attracted attention on both sides of the Atlantic.Fellow composer Howard Goodall proposes him as a 'Great Life', joining Professor of Music at Bristol University, Stephen Banfield, and presenter Francine Stock, to discuss Coleridge Taylor's music and the essential role he played in inspiring other Black artists.

09

04

Vasily Grossman

20051028

He fought and wrote at the bloodiest battles of the Second World War but novelist and war reporter Vasily Grossman is barely known outside Russia.Historian Antony Beevor and writer Gillian Slovo put that right.Grossman was declared unfit for service when the Germans invaded in 1941, but as a special correspondent for Red Star, the army newspaper, he was expected to fight and write.He spent three years at the front chronicling some of the great turning points of the war.He illustrated his experiences in Life and Fate, a novel thought so incendiary by Khrushchev that he forbade its publication.

09

05

Zhao Ziyang

20051104

Robert Thomson, the editor of The Times, was a young reporter in Tiananmen Square when the tanks rolled in on the June 4, 1989.The ensuing massacre marked the end of the reign of Zhao Ziyang, the Chinese premier who had led the push for economic and political reform.Robert maps his rise and fall with China expert Isabel Hilton.

09

06

Thomas Cromwell

20051111

Author Derek Wilson champions the cause of Thomas Cromwell, the man who smashed the monasteries in the 1530s.Often portrayed as a cynical money-grabber, Cromwell ran the country for Henry VIII, but lost his head after he hitched his King to the wrong wife.With the help of Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch, Derek tries to persuade Francine Stock that the politician who invented spin has been spun against by historians ever since.

09

07

Beatrix Potter

20051118

Fiona Reynolds, Director General of the National Trust, argues in favour of the 'greatness' of author Beatrix Potter, the woman who gave the world Peter Rabbit and Jemima Puddle-duck.But does her greatness lie in her literary achievements or in her skills as a conservationist, and is her real legacy the books or the 4,000 acres of countryside she left to the National Trust in her will?With historian and writer Anne Hobbs.

09

08

Marty Feldman

20060203

DJ Annie Nightingale argues for the 'greatness' of manic-eyed comic Marty Feldman, best known for the role of Igor in Young Frankenstein, but who began his career as a scriptwriter until John Cleese convinced him to step in front of the cameras.Feldman collaborator Barry Cryer also joins Francine in the studio to explore the comic's career and tragically early death.NB This programme was scheduled for 20051125 but was postponed due coverage of the death of George Best.

09

09

Nevil Shute

20051202

Broadcaster Adam Hart-Davis attempts to convince presenter Francine Stock of the 'greatness' of engineer and writer Nevil Shute, who managed to combine a scientific and literary career, writing such best-sellers as A Town Like Alice and On the Beach.

09

10 LAST

Dorothy Parker

20051209

Ab-Fab actress and comic Helen Lederer tries to convince Francine Stock that despite the barbed wit, the barely disguised malice of her criticism and the unyielding pessimism of her work, the writer and poet Dorothy Parker led a "Great Life".

10

01

Morecambe And Wise

20060404

20060407

On Christmas Day in 1977, almost 29 million people sat down to watch Morecambe and Wise.One of their guests was Penelope Keith, who nominates the masters of classless entertainment for Great Lives.She is ably backed up by Eric Morecambe's son, Gary.

10

02

Andrew Carnegie

20060411

20060414

In 1901, when Andrew Carnegie sold his steel-making empire to the banker JP Morgan for $480 million, the financier congratulated him on becoming the richest man in the world.But it's not just Carnegie's wealth that inspired Jeff Randall to nominate him for Great Lives.By the time he died, Carnegie had given most of his vast fortune away.Matthew Parris invites Jeff to explore the life of an extraordinary businessman and philanthropist, with the help of Eric Homberger, Professor of American Studies at UEA.

10

03

Noel Coward - Julian Clary

20060418

20060421

Julian Clary's hero is Sir Noel Coward, nominated here for his elegance, his plays, and for being gay in an age when homosexuality was still illegal.Sheridan Morley reveals many of the secrets of Coward's life, including the extent of his role in allied intelligence during the Second World War, while presenter Matthew Parris wonders how long Coward's literary achievements will last.

10

04

Sigmund Freud

20060425

20060428

Craig Brown reveals great dreams on Great Lives as he proposes Sigmund Freud.Almost 70 years after his death, the father of psychoanalysis remains a powerful and compelling character, though critics have denounced his work as 'the greatest intellectual confidence trick of the last century'.Matthew Parris chairs the programme, and Adam Phillips offers expert advice.

Writer and broadcaster Frances Cairncross nominates a forgotten hero of medicine.Ignaz Semmelweis was a doctor ahead of his time.In the mid-19th century he discovered why women were dying in droves after childbirth - doctors were spreading disease on their hands around hospitals.The solution he came up with was regular hand-washing.But his message was ignored.Women carried on dying, Semmelweis went mad, and he died in obscurity.Matthew Parris chairs the programme, and Semmelweis' biographer Sherwin Nuland offers expert advice.Producer Jolyon Jenkins

10

08

Tamara Karsavina

20060523

20060526

Writer and broadcaster Anna Raeburn nominates the ballerina Tamara Karsavina.Born in Russia in 1885 she was caught up in the October revolution and fled to England where she lived until her death in 1978.She was the leading female dancer in Diaghilev's Ballet Russes from its beginning in 1909 until 1922, and her partnership with Nijinsky created many of the greatest ballet roles that we know.In England she coached Margot Fonteyn and created roles for Frederick Ashton.Anna Raeburn explains why Karsavina still lives for her.

10

09

W G Grace

20060530

20060602

Piers Morgan, former editor of the Daily Mirror and life-long cricket enthusiast, nominates WG Grace as the greatest English cricketer and, some would say, the greatest English sportsman of all time.Piers is joined by Henry Blofeld, the voice of Test Match Special, to reflect on the achievements of the man who elevated cricket to its unique place in English life.Matthew Parris acts as umpire.

10

10 LAST

Robin Day

20060606

20060609

News presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy nominates his illustrious predecessor Robin Day.During the height of his career, he was regarded as Britain's finest political interviewer - the great inquisitor- on television and radio.Some salute him for breaking the mould of deferential interviewing but others think he bullied his subjects and stole the limelight himself with his mannered performances.Krishnan Guru-Murthy explains why for him Day remains a hero, we hear archive evidence, and Matthew Parris chairs the programme.

11

01

Leon Trotsky

20060808

20060811

A fiery return for the biographical series in which Matthew Parris chooses the living, and the living choose the dead.Christopher Hitchens proposes Leon Trotsky, the hero of the Russian Revolution later assassinated with an ice pick in the skull.He sees him as the perfect combination of the man of ideas and man of action, and says Trotsky's writings still make the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.Matthew Parris is joined by Professor Robert Service in resisting him all the way.

11

02

Max Miller

20060815

20060818

Max Miller was one of the highest-paid and most popular comedians of the 20th century.But his risqué humour got him banned from the BBC.TV critic Garry Bushell thinks he represented the true voice of working-class humour and, with the help of Roy Hudd, who worked with Miller, examines the career of the cheeky chappie.

11

03

Eleanor Roosevelt

20060822

20060825

Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of US president Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was born into a wealthy American family but transcended her origins to become a formidable campaigner for human rights and economic justice - both in the United States and on the world stage.Civil liberties lawyer Helena Kennedy argues that she was one of the great women of the last century, and with the help of Roosevelt biographer Blanche Wiesen Cook, examines her extraordinary life.

11

04

W H Auden

20060829

20060901

Broadcaster Jeremy Vine loves the poetry of W H Auden, but isn't much interested in his life.Presenter Matthew Parris doesn't think a lot of the poetry, but is fascinated by Auden's life.Biographer Richard Davenport-Hines thinks one needs to understand the life to appreciate the work.

11

05

Julia Ward Howe

20060905

20060908

American academic Elaine Showalter joins presenter Matthew Parris to discuss the life of the 19th-century American writer, Julia Ward Howe.Best known as the author of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, Ward Howe was a feminist, a pacifist and - according to Showalter - a great lost poet.With Professor Gary Williams

The legendary chanteuse, pianist, composer and civil rights activist Nina Simone is the choice of another female musician who's made a career of defying convention - Joanna MacGregor.Matthew Parris presents.

11

08 LAST

Charles Darwin

20060926

20060929

Businessman and academic Lord Adair Turner joins Matthew Parris to discuss the life of the great scientist, Charles Darwin.They are joined by Professor James Moore.

Time Magazine called him The Man of the Century and others have said he was 'the greatest Jew since Jesus'.His theories still make our brains spin, but what was Einstein like as a person? TV science presenter Professor Kathy Sykes discusses the archetypal crazy genius with Matthew Parris and Einstein's biographer, John Gribbin

12

04

Joan Littlewood

20070102

20070105

Victor Spinetti nominates director Joan Littlewood, who gave him his first big break when he was working as a comedian in a strip-club.Biographical information is supplied by theatre historian Nadine Holdsworth and through archive interviews with Littlewood herself.

12

05

Richard Beckinsale

20070109

20070112

Alan Davies, star of Jonathan Creek and Bob and Rose, nominates a man who died less than three decades ago and whose life was so brief that no one has yet written it up.But there was and still is something about Richard Beckinsale that remains extraordinarily well loved.With contributions from Stephen Frears, who directed him in two films, and his widow Judy Loe, plus archive of his Porridge cell mate Ronnie Barker.Presented by Matthew Parris

12

06

Martha Gellhorn

20070116

20070119

A typical story in Popbitch is usually about 90 words.This probably explains why its editor Camilla Wright has chosen Martha Gellhorn as her Great Life.Gellhorn wrote at length about the Spanish Civil War, the Second World War and Vietnam.Biographer Caroline Moorhead joins presenter Matthew Parris to dissect and debate a brilliant and complicated life.

12

07

William Beveridge

20070123

20070126

Anne Fine nominates the author of the report that became the basis for the welfare state.Expert assistance is provided by Frank Field, former minister of welfare reform.

12

08 LAST

Pope John Paul Ii

20070130

20070202

Ann Widdicombe MP, famous for her opposition to women priests, nominates the late pontiff, who felt just as strongly on the matter.Malachi O'Doherty, author of 'I Was a Teenage Catholic', joins the debate.

Despite being totally fictional, photojournalist Nick Danziger makes a powerful case for the inclusion of the little Belgian reporter and his small dog among the pantheon of greats.Michael Farr attempts to keep the conversation on a higher plane.The programme includes archive of Tintin's creator Herge.

13

03

Anton Chekhov - William Boyd

20070417

Author William Boyd champions playwright Anton Chekhov's claim to greatness.His work may be revered, but Chekhov's treatment of women, dogs and his pet mongoose left a lot to be desired.Joining Matthew in the studio is Chekhov biographer Donald Rayfield.

13

04

Marie Curie

20070424

20070427

BBC Science Correspondent Pallab Ghosh explains how Marie Curie achieved iconic status through her work on radioactivity and weighs up the cost she paid for her success.The studio guest is Curie biographer Sarah Dry

13

05

Billie Holiday

20070501

Pauline Black, lead singer with The Selecter, nominates Billie Holiday, one of the greatest jazz singers of all time.Pauline played Billie in an award-winning stage role in 1990.Guest is Julia Blackburn, whose book With Billie was based on the observations of people who knew her.

13

06

Mata Hari

20070508

Fiona Bruce champions the claim to greatness of the notorious femme fatale Mata Hari.Was she a dangerous double agent or a casualty of war, and how did her name become synonymous with sleaze and betrayal? Studio guest is historian Julie Wheelwright.

13

07

Claude Mckay

20070515

Theatre director, actress and writer Yvonne Brewster nominates poet Claude McKay.A leading figure in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s, McKay gave a voice to the anger and growing confidence of African-Americans, yet he died in poverty and obscurity.

13

08

Julius Caesar

20070522

20070525

Archaeologist Barry Cunliffe nominates Julius Caesar.A brilliant orator and military tactician, Caesar was undoubtedly talented, yet he failed to find political solutions to the problems of the late Roman Republic.

13

09 LAST

George Bernard Shaw

20070529

20070601

In a special edition from the Hay Festival, comedian and broadcaster Dr Phil Hammond nominates the playwright, critic and political activist George Bernard Shaw.

Former Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble explains his devotion to Elvis Presley in a special programme to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the singer's death.He is joined by Presley biographer Peter Guralnick

14

03

Rembrandt

20070821

20141016 (R4+)20141017 (R4+)

Artist and sculptor Maggi Hambling nominates Rembrandt as her choice of a great life, helped by novelist Sarah Emily Miano.Artist and sculptor Maggi Hambling nominates Rembrandt as her choice of a great life.Artist and sculptor Maggi Hambling chooses the 17th-century Dutch painter Rembrandt. With Matthew Parris.The biographical series in which a distinguished guest chooses someone who's inspired their life. Will their hero stand up to intensive scrutiny and merit the description of having led a great life? From 2002.

14

04

Alec Issigonis

20070828

20070831

Engineer Alex Moulton and the Earl of Snowdon talk about the life of Alec Issigonis, the idiosyncratic designer of the Mini.

14

05

John Cage

20070904

20070907

Conceptual artist Michael Craig-Martin talks about the life of avant-garde composer John Cage and his influence on the visual arts.

14

06

Lord Denning

20070911

20070914

Blur drummer David Rowntree discusses the life of Lord Denning, one of the great and controversial judges of the 20th century.With Joshua Rozenberg, Daily Telegraph legal editor.

14

07

Brian Clough

20070918

John Motson proposes former Nottingham Forest manager Brian Clough.He is joined by biographer Duncan Hamilton.

14

08

Elizabeth David

20070925

20070928

Prue Leith nominates Elizabeth David, arguably the greatest food writer of the 20th century.She is joined by biographer Artemis Cooper.

14

09 LAST

George Washington

20071002

20071005

General Sir Michael Rose nominates George Washington for greatness.He is joined by Washington expert Frank Grizzard.

15

01

Thora Hird

20071211

20071214

Jan Ravens champions Dame Thora Hird.Biographer Morris Bright and Thora's daughter Janette Scott provide expert advice on an actress once described as the Queen Mum of British stage and screen.

15

02

George Cruikshank

20071218

20071221

Illustrator Quentin Blake nominates George Cruikshank, who drew the original Fagin and Artful Dodger in Oliver Twist.Vic Gatrell outlines some of the darker sides to Cruikshank's life.

Sir Richard Sykes champions Howard Florey, the forgotten man in the story of the discovery of penicillin.

15

05

Groucho Marx

20080115

20080118

Roger Graef champions the great comic Groucho Marx.

15

06

Katherine Mansfield

20080122

20080125

Children's author Jacqueline Wilson nominates short story writer Katherine Mansfield for greatness.She is joined by biographer Prof Angela Smith to assess the impact of Mansfield's brilliant but tragically short career.

15

07 LAST

Hermann Buhl

20080129

20080201

Mountaineer Joe Simpson takes up the cause of a relatively unknown but pioneering Austrian climber.Hermann Buhl tackled some of the most dangerous climbs in the world and was revered among his contemporaries for his ability to push himself through the bleakest of conditions.

16

01

Peter Cushing

20080401

20080404

Mark Gatiss champions Peter Cushing, a quintessentially English star of stage and screen who never gave a bad performance.

Former athlete and television commentator Steve Cram nominates Paavo Nurmi, the 'Flying Finn'.Middle and long distance runner Nurmi won nine gold medals in 12 Olympic events and is often considered the greatest track and field athlete of all time.

16

04

Juan Manuel Fangio

20080422

20080425

Stirling Moss nominates the great racing driver Juan Manuel Fangio, a quiet home-loving man who made the record books by winning five world titles.

16

05

Paul Robeson

20080429

20080502

Anna Ford nominates singer, actor and civil rights activist Paul Robeson.From Shakespeare to Showboat, his success as a stage actor was matched by his popularity as a singer, until he fell foul of the House of Un-American Activities Committee.

16

06

Ian Curtis

20080506

20080509

Poet Simon Armitage nominates Joy Division singer Ian Curtis, who took his own life in 1980 at the age of 23.Curtis's fellow band member Peter Hook remembers his friend.

16

07

Edward Lear

20080513

2008051620120512 (R4+)

Nicholas Parsons nominates artist and writer Edward Lear, now remembered best for The Owl and the Pussycat, The Jumblies and other nonsense verse for children.(07/09)Series of biographical discussions with Matthew Parris.Nicholas Parsons nominates Edward Lear, now remembered best for his nonsense verse.

16

08

Joyce Grenfell

20080520

20080523

Arabella Weir nominates Joyce Grenfell, whose comic monologues she listened to and loved as a child.Joyce's biographer and family friend Janie Hampton offers inside information on one of the greatest entertainers of the last century.

Jon Snow argues the case for the prison reform campaigner and former member of Attlee's cabinet.He is assisted by Longford's daughter Rachel Billington and his biographer Peter Stanford.

17

02

Richard Pryor

20080812

20080815

Skills minister David Lammy puts the case for the revolutionary comedian.

17

03

Robert Hooke

20080819

2008082220110801 (R4)

David Attenborough nominates the largely forgotten 17th-century inventor and illustrator.His beautiful drawings of microscopic animals first attracted Attenborough to Hooke, who also helped to design the dome of St Paul's and claimed to have arrived at some of Isaac Newton's groundbreaking laws before Newton himself.Biographer Lisa Jardine joins in the debate.Series of biographical discussions with Matthew Parris.David Attenborough nominates the largely forgotten 17th century-inventor and illustrator. His beautiful drawings of microscopic animals first attracted Attenborough to Hooke, who also helped to design the dome of St Paul's and claimed to have arrived at some of Isaac Newton's groundbreaking laws before Newton himself. Biographer Lisa Jardine joins in the debate.

17

04

Alan Freed

20080826

20080829

Bob Harris nominates Alan Freed, the first ever rock 'n' roll DJ.A champion of black rhythm and blues, Freed's meteoric career was cut short when he faced allegations of commercial bribery, and he died a penniless alcoholic.

17

05

Henry Vii

20080902

20080905

Shadow Chancellor George Osborne nominates Henry VII, founder of the Tudor dynasty.By making the crown much less financially independent on the nobles, he claims that Henry played a key role in establishing the processes of modern government.Studio guest Dr Steven Gunn helps to assess whether Osborne is right.

17

06

David Ervine

20080909

20080912

Former loyalist paramilitary turned Northern Ireland politician David Ervine is the controversial choice of broadcaster Lesley Riddoch.Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams and Raymond McCord, whose son was murdered by a Loyalist terror gang, join the discussion with the Guardian's Belfast correspondent Henry McDonald.

17

07

Bill Slim

20080916

20080919

General Sir Mike Jackson, former Head of the British Army, nominates Field Marshal Bill Slim, leader of the Burma Campaign.Military historian Julian Thompson lends weight to the argument that Slim, less well known today than other Second World War Generals, was perhaps the greatest commander of the 20th century.

Luciano Pavarotti is nominated by the music promoter Harvey Goldsmith.Series of biographical discussions with Matthew Parris.Luciano Pavarotti is nominated by the music promoter Harvey Goldsmith, the man behind the Pavarotti in the Park concert.The opera director John Copley and Anne Midgette of the Washington Post join the discussion.

18

02

Billy Marsh

20081216

20081219

Michael Grade and William G Stewart champion the life of the theatrical agent Billy Marsh, the man who helped to turn Morecambe and Wise, Norman Wisdom and Bruce Forsyth into household names.Series of biographical discussions with Matthew Parris

18

03

Beachcomber

20081223

20081226

Raymond Briggs celebrates Beachcomber, the newspaper columnist who inspired both Spike Milligan and Private Eye.Richard Ingrams offer details of the column's early life and the current Beachcomber reveals his own influences.

18

04

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

20081230

20090102

Actor David Soul champions the life of the German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was involved in the German resistance movement in WWII.

Television and radio presenter Stuart Hall discusses his lifelong hero, Napoleon Bonaparte.Is he one of the greatest figures in European history or a ruthless dictator, driven only by the desire for power?

19

02

Roy Jenkins

20090414

20090417

Polly Toynbee, David Steel and Dick Taverne argue that Roy Jenkins, former home secretary, chancellor, president of the European Commission and founder member of the SDP, was one of the greatest politicians of the post-Second World War era.

19

03

Sir Thomas Beecham

20090421

20090424

Politician and broadcaster David Mellor promotes the life of Sir Thomas Beecham, conductor and founder of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.He was known for his wit and energy, which spawned a huge number of anecdotes, but which of them are true?

19

04

Carl Gustav Jung

20090428

20090501

Ruby Wax discusses the life and work of Carl Gustav Jung, who has been called 'the father of analytical psychology'.Along with author and Jungian analyst Professor Andrew Samuels, Ruby discusses Jung's theories of personality and psychological types, and reveals how his work has affected her own life.

19

05

Frank Sinatra

20090505

20090508

Matthew Parris presents the biographical series in which his guests chose someone who has inspired their lives.Broadcaster and DJ Colin Murray chooses Frank Sinatra

Matthew Parris presents the biographical series in which his guests choose someone who has inspired their lives.Journalist Misha Glenny remembers the life of anti-Mafia campaigner Giovanni Falcone, whose work on the 1986 Maxi trial contributed to over 3,000 convictions.Falcone was blown up by the Mafia near Palermo airport in May 1992.Matthew and Misha are joined by Diego Gambetta, who offers expert comment.Journalist Misha Glenny remembers the life of anti-Mafia campaigner Giovanni Falcone.

20

01

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

20090804

20090807

Andrew Motion champions the life of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Poet Laureate for over 40 yearsMatthew Parris presents the biographical series in which his guests choose someone who has inspired their lives.Andrew Motion champions the life of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Poet Laureate for over 40 years and creator of In Memoriam and The Charge of the Light Brigade.Ann Thwaite provides further details of Tennyson's often-troubled life.

20

02

Joe Slovo

20090811

20090814

Fforeign secretary David Miliband discusses the life of Joe Slovo, a leading member of the African National Congress and the first housing minister in Nelson Mandela's government.Slovo's daughter, Gillian, joins in the discussion.

20

03

John Cornford

20090818

20090821

George Galloway chooses British poet and political activist John Cornford, who died at the age of 21 fighting fascism in the Spanish Civil War.Professor Stan Smith joins in the discussion.

20

04

Freya Stark

20090825

20090828

Travel writer Dervla Murphy discusses the life of another fearless woman traveller, Freya Stark.Stark roamed across Arabia and Persia, frequently risking her life, and during the Second World War set up a pro-British intelligence network in Cairo.She was brave but also infuriating, and was liable to make impossible demands on her friends, such as John Murray, who joins the discussion.

20

04

Hannah Arendt

20091229

20100101

Matthew Parris presents the biographical series in which his guests choose someone who has inspired their lives.Munira Mirza, the London Mayoral advisor on arts and culture, chooses the influential political philosopher Hannah Arendt.She is regarded as a highly influential 20th-century political philosopher, although Arendt would have refuted the title 'philosopher' herself. Born into a secular German Jewish family, she grew up in what is now Hanover and Berlin. A student with Heidegger (with whom she had a tumultuous relationship; they divorced in 1929), Arendt survived being interrogated by the Gestapo and moved to Paris, where she lived for a number of years before immigrating to America in the 1940s, settling in New York.Arendt was a lively part of an intellectual circle and held a number of academic posts until her death. Little known in the UK, Arendt is chosen by Munira Mirza, the London Mayoral advisor on arts and culture and a founding member of the Manifesto Club.

20

05

Nero

20100105

20100108

Christopher Biggins champions the life of the Roman Emperor Nero.Matthew Parris presents the biographical series in which his guests choose someone who has inspired their lives.Christopher Biggins champions the life of the Roman Emperor Nero, a man whose modest talent for poetry was overshadowed by his debauchery, extravagance and tyranny.

20

05

Sir Kyffin Williams

20090901

20090904

Matthew Parris presents the biographical series in which his guests choose someone who has inspired their lives.Rolf Harris discusses the life of the Welsh painter Sir Kyffin Williams.Famous for his paintings inspired by the north Wales landscape, Williams never chose to be a painter; he was told by a doctor to take up art for his health when he was diagnosed with epilepsy.Prof Derec Llwyd Morgan joins the discussion.

20

06

Lise Meitner

20100112

20100115

Jenny Agutter champions the life and work of pioneering Austrian physicist Lise Meitner.Matthew Parris presents the biographical series in which his guests choose someone who has inspired their lives.Actress Jenny Agutter champions the life and work of pioneering Austrian physicist Lise Meitner, one of the scientists responsible for the discovery of nuclear fission.

Photographer David Bailey discusses the life and work of Pablo Picasso.Matthew Parris presents the biographical series in which his guests choose someone who has inspired their lives.Photographer David Bailey first saw Picasso's work in Look magazine in the 1950s - it was a revelation to him. He discusses the founder of Cubism's work and the enigma of the man himself, and their influence on him.

20

08

Harry Houdini

20090922

20090925

Paul Daniels explores the life of Harry Houdini.They are joined by Houdini biographer William Kalush, who argues that the master escapologist may have been murdered by spiritualists.Paul Daniels explores the life of Harry Houdini, with help from biographer William Kalush.

21

01

Henry V

20091208

20091211

Matthew Parris presents the biographical series in which his guests choose someone who has inspired their lives.Explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes discusses the life of Henry V and tries to separate fact from myth, with the help of historian Juliet Barker.Explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes discusses the life of Henry V.

21

02

Tennessee Williams

20091215

20091218

American stand-up comedian Rich Hall discusses the life of playwright Tennessee Williams, whose work he first remembers seeing at a Kentucky drive-in cinema, rather than the theatre.With their vivid portrayal of the American south, poetic language and dark themes, works such as Cat on A Hot Tin Roof and A Streetcar Named Desire were snapped up by Hollywood as well as changing the direction of American theatre.Rich Hall is joined by Williams' friend and biographer Dotson Rader to talk about the man himself: the early unhappiness that shaped his creative life, the prejudice he encountered due to his homosexuality, and his later unpopularity and decline into drink and prescription drugs.They discover a writer with a strong sense of humour, a devotion to his family and a desire to experiment with writing throughout his career.Was Williams' life a wasted one?

21

03

Vivian Stanshall

20091222

20091225

21

04

Hannah Arendt

20091229

20100101

Munira Mirza, the London Mayoral advisor on arts and culture, chooses the influential political philosopher Hannah Arendt.She is regarded as a highly influential 20th-century political philosopher, although Arendt would have refuted the title 'philosopher' herself.Born into a secular German Jewish family, she grew up in what is now Hanover and Berlin.A student with Heidegger (with whom she had a tumultuous relationship; they divorced in 1929), Arendt survived being interrogated by the Gestapo and moved to Paris, where she lived for a number of years before immigrating to America in the 1940s, settling in New York.Arendt was a lively part of an intellectual circle and held a number of academic posts until her death.Little known in the UK, Arendt is chosen by Munira Mirza, the London Mayoral advisor on arts and culture and a founding member of the Manifesto Club.Munira Mirza discusses the life of the influential political philosopher Hannah Arendt.

21

06

Lise Meitner

20100112

20100115

Matthew Parris presents the biographical series in which his guests choose someone who has inspired their lives.Actress Jenny Agutter champions the life and work of pioneering Austrian physicist Lise Meitner, one of the scientists responsible for the discovery of nuclear fission.Jenny Agutter champions the life and work of pioneering Austrian physicist Lise Meitner.

21

07

Picasso

20100119

20100122

Matthew Parris presents the biographical series in which his guests choose someone who has inspired their lives.Photographer David Bailey first saw Picasso's work in Look magazine in the 1950s - it was a revelation to him.He discusses the founder of Cubism's work and the enigma of the man himself, and their influence on him.Photographer David Bailey discusses the life and work of Pablo Picasso.

21

08

Agustin Barrios Mangore

20100126

20100129

John Williams discusses the life of Paraguayan guitarist Agustin Barrios Mangore.Matthew Parris presents the biographical series in which his guests choose someone who has inspired their lives.Guitarist John Williams explains why he believes Paraguayan guitarist Agustin Barrios Mangore is one of the greatest musicians of all time.

21

09 LAST

Bill Hamilton

20100202

20100205

Matthew Parris presents the biographical series in which his guests choose someone who has inspired their lives.Professor Richard Dawkins explains why he believes Bill Hamilton to have been one of the greatest evolutionary theorists of the 20th century.Dr Mary Bliss offers expert advice.Professor Richard Dawkins discusses the evolutionary theorist Bill Hamilton.

22

01

Bertolt Brecht

20100406

20100409

Mathew Parris is back with BBC Radio Four's acclaimed biography series 'Great Lives', in which celebrated people of today nominate a great life from the past to explore and discuss.6.04.10The series begins with playwright John Godber's choice of his literary hero and inspiration, Bertolt Brecht.Both writers have in common an instinct and desire for truly popular theatre which has the power to change fundamentally the perspective of its audiences.And who else could bring the spectacle of the sports stadium into the theatre auditorium?Specialist in German drama, Professor Michael Patterson, joins the debate to counter the widespread view that 'if it's German and political it must be boring'.Brecht's own productions were immensely lively and popular and his theatrical legacy, although eschewed by Hollywood devotees of naturalism, stands firm in the work of many of today's greatest writers.We also learn the truth about allegations of Brecht plundering the genius of his many lovers, and how he made love with his socks on.13.04.10Clive Stafford-Smith, human rights campaigner and founder of the prisoners' rights organisation Reprieve, unhesitatingly nominates as his hero the all-time Good Guy, Robin Hood - currently about to bounce back onto the screen in the guise of Russell Crowe.You might think being fictional would limit Robin, but he has friends in high places: Professor Stephen Knight of Cardiff University joins Clive and Matthew Parris to discuss some of the ways in which stories about the man-in-green reflect deep and enduring truths about the way we treat one another.20.04.10Broadcaster Peter White nominates the 'Iron Duke' and inventor of 'Bodyline' cricket, Douglas Jardine.Playwright John Godber discusses the life of German writer Bertolt Brecht

22

02

Robin Hood

20100413

20100416

Clive Stafford Smith is a lawyer working for human rights both in Britain and abroad - he campaigns for the rights of prisoners on death row in the US and in Guantanamo Bay.His nomination for a life worth celebrating is at first surprising - it's the entirely fictitious Robin Hood.But, he argues in conversation with medievalist Professor Stephen Knight, the myth has a lot to teach us about the way we treat each other.The presenter is Matthew Parris.Produced by Christine Hall.

22

03

Douglas Jardine

20100420

20100423

The controversial England cricket captain, Douglas Jardine, who was responsible for the infamous 1932 Bodyline tour of Australia, is Peter White's choice of a Great Life.Matthew Parris, who is sceptical about cricket to say the least, presents, while Christopher Douglas (who co-writes and presents Ed Reardon on Radio 4, the disaffected, failed 50-something hack writer) fills in the biographical gaps.Producer: Mark Smalley.Peter White discusses the controversial England cricket captain Douglas Jardine.

22

04

Buckminster Fuller

20100427

20100430

Responsible for so many classic comedies of the last 30 years - Blackadder, QI, Not the Nine O'Clock News and Spitting Image among them, John Lloyd selects the maverick American architect, Richard Buckminster Fuller, inventor of the geodesic dome, as his choice of a great life.Matthew Parris hosts, joined by futurist and business strategist, Hardin Tibbs, as they debate the charge that if Buckminster Fuller - who had a molecule named after him, for its resemblance to his geodesic domes - really was the Twentieth Century's answer to Leonardo da Vinci, then why is he so little known about today? A man, John Lloyd argues, who preached environmentalism before the term was coined, so in advance of his times, but yet whose time has come today.Producer: Mark Smalley.TV producer John Lloyd discusses the life of American architect Richard Buckminster FullerMatthew Parris hosts, joined by futurist and business strategist, Hardin Tibbs, as they debate the charge that if Buckminster Fuller - who had a molecule named after him, for its resemblance to his geodesic domes - really was the Twentieth Century's answer to Leonardo da Vinci, then why is he so little known about today? A man, John Lloyd argues, who preached environmentalism before the term was coined, so in advance of his times, but yet whose time has come today. Producer: Mark Smalley.

22

05

Matthew Flinders

20100504

20100507

Sir Stuart Rose, chairman of Marks and Spencer, chooses the cartographer Matthew Flinders for Great Lives.Flinders mapped Australia two hundred years ago in His Majesty's ship the Investigator.Since neither birth nor fortune have favoured me," he wrote, "my actions shall speak to the world." Sir Stuart Rose clearly finds inspiration in what Flinders achieved and the way he led his men.Rose also reveals that his first ambition was to join the Royal Navy, and that he applied to 25 companies before Marks and Spencer took him on.Dr Nigel Rigby of the National Maritime Museum offers the expert's view on Flinders life and Matthew Parris presents.The producer is Miles Warde.Sir Stuart Rose discusses the life of the cartographer Matthew Flinders."

22

06

Charlotte Guest

20100511

20100514

Businesswoman Baroness Sarah Hogg discusses the life of Lady Charlotte Guest, a Victorian polymath whose many achievements included running the largest ironworks in the world.Assistance is provided by Lady Charlotte's great grand-daughter, Revel Guest.Producer: Paul Dodgson.Businesswoman Baroness Sarah Hogg discusses the life of Lady Charlotte Guest.

22

07

Carl Sagan

20100518

20100521

Physicist Brian Cox tells Matthew Parris how Carl Sagan's Cosmos tv show changed his life.As a young boy of 13, Brian Cox stared at his television screen every Wednesday evening, as Carl Sagan took him on a journey across the Cosmos.The programme was a ground-breaking piece of television by a brilliant young scientist who could be inspiring and infuriating in equal measure.Sagan was a complex character.Driven to succeed, he came from a relatively poor background to become a millionaire, and one of the most influential scientists of his era.His popularity left him open to both criticism and jealousy amongst his colleagues, and whilst he was passionate about the need to educate the populace, he could also be arrogant and dismissive of his fellow scientists.So just how good a scientist was he, and what is his legacy?Producer: John Byrne.

22

08 LAST

Arthur Wharton

20100525

20100528

Viv Anderson, the first black footballer to play for England, talks to Matthew Parris about the life of Arthur Wharton, the first black professional player.Arthur Wharton was born in Ghana in 1865.He came to England to study, but he very quickly started to gain a reputation as an athlete, winning the 100 metres in a world record time of ten seconds.He was a superb all-round athlete, and excelled in football and cricket.In his career he played for Preston North End, Sheffield United, Rotherham Town, Stalybridge Celtic and Ashton North End.He ended his career at Stockport County in Division Two, and, for the remainder of his working life, he laboured as a colliery haulage hand in the pits.Wharton came from a middle class background, but his choice of a life of sport meant that a career in civil service administration was quickly closed to him, He chose to do what he loved to do, but paid a terrible price.As his playing career collapsed, he developed a drink problem, and died a penniless alcoholic.Viv Anderson champions the life of Arthur Wharton, the first black professional footballer

23

01

John Lennon

20100803

20100806

Journalist John Harris, author of influential books on music, politics and popular culture, was born just as the Beatles were splitting up, and was only 11 when John Lennon died.Yet Lennon's mischievous anti-establishment position - and the richness of his lyrics and music - makes him Harris's nomination for a Great Life.Matthew Parris tries to define what it is that makes this enigmatic, often difficult figure an inspiring subject for reflection.The expert witness is Barry Miles, in whose London gallery John first met Yoko in the mid 1960s.This is the first of new series of Great Lives - future programmes include Bettany Hughes on the Greek poet Sappho and Dominic Sandbrook on Richard Nixon.Producer: Christine Hall.Journalist John Harris discusses the life of John Lennon

23

02

Sappho

20100810

20100813

The Greek poet Sappho has been described as everything from a great intellectual to little more than a vamp.Hard facts about her life are in short supply - we know that she lived on the island of Lesbos over two and half thousand years ago, and fragments of her poetry still survive.The best examples deal with the language of desire, but whether she really was a lesbian (with a small l) is less clear.Historian Bettany Hughes is as obsessed with who Sappho might be, as with whom the fragmentary evidence suggest she was."This lack of facts has not stopped people making up stories about her," writes expert Peggy Reynolds."Sappho is not a name, much less a person.It is, rather, a space." An enigmatic choice for presenter Matthew Parris to decipher.The producer is Miles Warde.Historian Bettany Hughes discusses the life of the Greek poet Sappho.

23

03

Richard Nixon

20100817

20100820

The disgrace and resignation of Richard Nixon in 1974 was a profoundly traumatic moment in the history of the American presidency, leaving us the endlessly influential word Watergate and a cynicism about politics which arguably has only now, with Barack Obama, started to heal.His life is thus perhaps a strange one to nominate as "great", but the historian Dominic Sandbrook unhesitatingly selected him for celebration in this programme.Matthew Parris talks to him about his intriguing choice, and calls on Professor Philip Davies of the Eccles Centre for American Studies to round out the picture.Producer: Christine Hall.Historian Dominic Sandbrook discusses the life of Richard Nixon

23

04

Mary Carpenter

20100824

20100827

Matthew Parris is joined by the founder of Kids' Company, the psychotherapist Camila Batmanghelidjh, to discuss the life of her Victorian equivalent, Mary Carpenter.Mary Carpenter developed theories for helping deprived and criminalised children through the experience of running schools and reformatories in Bristol in the mid-nineteenth century.She became very influential as MPs turned to her for advice on educational and penal reform regarding children.Her guiding principle was that the treatment of troubled children should be based on the love of the child, not on ideas of punishment or retribution.Camila Batmanghelidjh founded Kids' Company to offer practical support 'and love' to vulnerable inner city children who may lack it from their families.She was surprised to discover how closely Mary Carpenter's beliefs mirror her own, one hundred and fifty years on, and how many of the problems Mary Carpenter described remain unchanged.Camila finds Dickensian conditions in the homes of South London children now, with filthy conditions, parents who are intoxicated and drugs being used to control or pacify children.These scenes would have been familiar to Mary Carpenter as she visited families in the slums of Bristol.The parallels between the two women are striking: both exhibited a gift for dealing with children at an early age; both decided to devote their lives to the cause, eschewing a family life of their own; both have had to spend time raising money and advocating on behalf of the children they represent.Matthew and Camila are joined by biographer and historian Carla Contractor in this fascinating and moving programme.Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery.Camila Batmanghelidjh discusses the life of her Victorian equivalent, Mary Carpenter.

23

05

Simone Weil

20100831

20100903

- mystic, social activist, and sort of latter day saint - is one of the more unexpected recent choices for Great Lives.She is remembered chiefly these days for her writings and the controversy over whether she starved herself to death, at the age of 34.But for Eleanor Bron she remains the supreme example of someone who lived her life according to her ideals.Born in 1909 in Paris, Simone Weil chose to work in factories, volunteered for the anarchist militia in the Spanish Civil War, and tried to persuade General de Gaulle in the Second World War to parachute nurses onto the frontline.She seemed permanently compelled to identify with suffering, but not, argues Eleanor Bron, in a preachy way.Grahame Davies, who based his first novel on Simone Weil's life, largely agrees.Eleanor Bron's career began with satire at the Establishment Club.She appeared alongside the Beatles in Help - her name is said to have inspired McCartney's Eleanor Rigby - and on television she has featured in Yes Minister, Doctor Who, Absolutely Fabulous, and so the list goes on.The presenter is Matthew Parris, and the producer is Miles Warde.Eleanor Bron discusses the life of the French philosopher and mystic Simone Weil.

23

06

Golda Meir

20100907

20100910

was the Iron Lady of Israeli politics, a straight-talking, intransigent leader who once said, "There is a type of woman who does not let her husband narrow her horizons".She is the choice of former Conservative government minister Edwina Currie.Golda Meir was born in Kiev and educated in the United States, but moved to Palestine her twenties, just after the First World War.One of the signatories on Israel's Declaration of Independence in 1948, Meir was elected to the Knesset and stayed there until she retired in her late sixties.But when prime minister Levi Eshkol died unexpectedly she was called back to take his place.She was the compromise candidate but stayed there for five years and was in power during the Yom Kippur War.Edwina Currie admires her conviction and humanity, and that fact that she reminds her of her granny.Ahron Bregman from the Department of War Studies at Kings College London, served in the Israeli army and was present at Golda Meir's funeral.Unlike Edwina, Ahron thinks Golda Meir made some unforgiveable mistakes.Edwina Currie discusses the life of the former Israeli prime minister Golda Meir.

23

07

Winston Churchill

20100914

2010091720101105 (R4)20150129 (R4+)20150130 (R4+)

's is the Great Life chosen by Lord Digby Jones, former Director General of the CBI.Expert contribution comes from Professor David Reynolds.Both men have vivid memories of the day in 1965 when, as children, they heard that Churchill had died.Surprisingly this is the first time that Churchill has been nominated in the series.Considered by many a busted flush in the 1930s, Churchill is now remembered as our greatest wartime leader - his speech before the Battle of Britain still sends a shiver down the spine.But his great qualities and personal flaws remained inextricably linked.David Reynolds has uncovered a stark revelation about Churchill's real state of mind at the time he made that speech, while Digby Jones argues that the ability to instil confidence in people even when there is little rational hope of victory is one of the signs of a great leader.He believes that no one made his mark on the last century in the way that Churchill did.David Reynolds does not subscribe to the Great Man theory of history.He is the Professor of International History at Cambridge University.Known to Radio 4 listeners as the writer and presenter of "America, Empire of Liberty", he has also written extensively on Churchill, including the book "In Command of History" about Churchill's memoirs of World War Two.The presenter is Matthew Parris.Lord Digby Jones discusses the life of Winston ChurchillLord Digby Jones chooses Winston Churchill, with contribution from Prof David Reynolds.'s is the Great Life chosen by Lord Digby Jones, former Director General of the CBI. Expert contribution comes from Professor David Reynolds. Both men have vivid memories of the day in 1965 when, as children, they heard that Churchill had died. Surprisingly this is the first time that Churchill has been nominated in the series.Considered by many a busted flush in the 1930s, Churchill is now remembered as our greatest wartime leader - his speech before the Battle of Britain still sends a shiver down the spine. But his great qualities and personal flaws remained inextricably linked. David Reynolds has uncovered a stark revelation about Churchill's real state of mind at the time he made that speech, while Digby Jones argues that the ability to instil confidence in people even when there is little rational hope of victory is one of the signs of a great leader. He believes that no one made his mark on the last century in the way that Churchill did.David Reynolds does not subscribe to the Great Man theory of history. He is the Professor of International History at Cambridge University. Known to Radio 4 listeners as the writer and presenter of "America, Empire of Liberty", he has also written extensively on Churchill, including the book "In Command of History" about Churchill's memoirs of World War Two. The presenter is Matthew Parris.

23

08

Michel De Montaigne

20100921

20100924

is one of the most influential writers of the French Renaissance.He is known for popularising the essay as a literary genre and became famous for his ability to fuse intellectual speculation with casual anecdotes and autobiography.Montaigne's work continues to influence writers to this day.Championing his life is the surgeon, scientist, broadcaster and politician Professor Robert Winston and providing expert witness is the writer Sarah Bakewell, whose recent biography, How to Live: A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer, was recently published to great acclaim.Producer: Paul Dodgson.Professor Robert Winston discusses the life of Michel De MontaigneMichel de Montaigne is one of the most influential writers of the French Renaissance.

23

09 LAST

Walt Disney

20100928

2010100120131012 (R4+)

Satirical cartoonist Gerald Scarfe nominates Walt Disney.Gerald Scarfe spent much of his childhood in his sick bed, so it's not surprising that Disney cartoons and feature films meant so much to him.He can still recall the thrill at the prospect of seeing Pinocchio at the cinema, and then the agony of being lead away again in the rain because the tickets were too expensive.Walt Disney came from a working family.His god-fearing father Elias, said by one writer to have 'hated Capital, and favoured Labour, but really needed to make a buck', found work where he could.So Walt lived a peripatetic childhood, and sought solace in drawing and play acting.Hard times early on did not make Walt frugal with money in adulthood, and despite the huge successes of the golden era of Disney, it was only with the opening of Disneyland that Walt attained any substantial personal wealth.You don't have to look far to find myth surrounding Walt Disney.Even after his death, rumours that his body had been cryogenically frozen spread so widely that they soon slipped into folklore.He had actually been cremated, but the readiness with which the cryogenic claim was accepted perhaps bears witness to a man who was terrified of dying, who believed in the white hope of technology and who, some might say, had been searching all his life for an escape into an immortal, fairytale world.Matthew Parris, Gerald Scarfe and guest experts Brian Sibley and Richard Williams, creator of Roger Rabbit, discuss the life of a complex cultural icon.A man who was seemingly unpretentious, and did not fit the image of movie mogul with his scruffy tweed jacket and awkward demeanour, yet a man who was accused of being a tyrannical egomaniac.The son of a socialist who ended up naming names at the House of Un- American Activities committee.Above all else perhaps though, they discuss the life of a man who strove tirelessly for perfection and who changed the cultural landscape of a little boy called Gerald, and arguably of the world, for ever.Scarfe himself is best known for his classic images lampooning the great and the good of politics, and also in his iconic animation for Pink Floyd's The Wall.He reveals in this programme that he also spent time working on the Disney production Hercules.The producer is Miles Warde.Cartoonist Gerald Scarfe discusses the life of Walt DisneyGerald Scarfe spent much of his childhood in his sick bed, so it's not surprising that Disney cartoons and feature films meant so much to him. He can still recall the thrill at the prospect of seeing Pinocchio at the cinema, and then the agony of being lead away again in the rain because the tickets were too expensive.Walt Disney came from a working family. His god-fearing father Elias, said by one writer to have 'hated Capital, and favoured Labour, but really needed to make a buck', found work where he could. So Walt lived a peripatetic childhood, and sought solace in drawing and play acting. Hard times early on did not make Walt frugal with money in adulthood, and despite the huge successes of the golden era of Disney, it was only with the opening of Disneyland that Walt attained any substantial personal wealth.You don't have to look far to find myth surrounding Walt Disney. Even after his death, rumours that his body had been cryogenically frozen spread so widely that they soon slipped into folklore. He had actually been cremated, but the readiness with which the cryogenic claim was accepted perhaps bears witness to a man who was terrified of dying, who believed in the white hope of technology and who, some might say, had been searching all his life for an escape into an immortal, fairytale world.Matthew Parris, Gerald Scarfe and guest experts Brian Sibley and Richard Williams, creator of Roger Rabbit, discuss the life of a complex cultural icon. A man who was seemingly unpretentious, and did not fit the image of movie mogul with his scruffy tweed jacket and awkward demeanour, yet a man who was accused of being a tyrannical egomaniac. The son of a socialist who ended up naming names at the House of Un- American Activities committee. Above all else perhaps though, they discuss the life of a man who strove tirelessly for perfection and who changed the cultural landscape of a little boy called Gerald, and arguably of the world, for ever.Scarfe himself is best known for his classic images lampooning the great and the good of politics, and also in his iconic animation for Pink Floyd's The Wall. He reveals in this programme that he also spent time working on the Disney production Hercules.Gerald Scarfe, merciless political cartoon satirist, chooses an icon who created icons.

24

01

Malcolm Mclaren

20101207

20101210

Matthew Parris presents the life of the great rock and roll swindler, Malcolm Mclaren, who died earlier this year."I've been called many things," McLaren wrote as advance publicity for his one man show, "a charlatan, a con man, or the culprit responsible for turning popular culture into nothing more than a cheap marketing gimmick.This is my chance to prove these accusations are true."The man behind the Sex Pistols and Duck Rock is nominated by public relations expert Mark Borkowski, author of The Fame Formula, and a man who knew him well.What intrigues Borkowski is not just the success, but the myths that have evolved around this highly manipulative man.Matthew Parris is more sceptical, as is Chris Salewicz.As a journalist for NME between 1974-1981, Salewicz watched McLaren rewrite the rules of management.He also introduced the Sex Pistols to the man from EMI who then signed them up.An intriguing programme about fame, the media, and why the truth should not be confused with an easily believable myth.The producer is Miles Warde.Future subjects in the series include Samuel Beckett, Nye Bevan, and JB Priestley who is nominated by Barry Cryer.PR man Mark Borkowski discusses the life of rock and roll swindler Malcolm Mclaren

24

02

D H Lawrence

20101214

20101217

DH Lawrence was, in the words of Geoff Dyer, a man with thin wrists and thick trousers.He was also the author of Women in Love, Sons and Lovers and Lady Chatterley's Lover.But poet and performer John Hegley has chosen him above all for the quality of his poetry, an admiration presenter Matthew Parris also shares.Lawrence died aged just 44.An obituary at the time reckoned he was 'a rebel against all the accepted values of modern civilization'.Certainly his life - born in Eastwood, Notts, became a teacher only to run off with a German-born mother of three to embark on his 'savage pilgrimage' around the world - was unpredictable.As indeed was this programme, recorded in front of an audience at the Arnolfini in Bristol, with John Hegley using both music and verse to make his point.Geoff Dyer, the author of Out of Sheer Rage, makes the case that Lawrence's unpredictability was a sign of strength, and that his best work lies in his letters and not his books.The producer is Miles Warde.Poet John Hegley chooses writer DH Lawrence.Author Geoff Dyer offers the expert's view.

24

03

Samuel Beckett

20101221

20101224

Business guru Sir Gerry Robinson was born in Ireland but moved to England in his teens, and he chooses Samuel Beckett, another Irishman who lived away for much of his life - in Paris.Gerry, a late convert to Beckett's plays, loves him because he's accepting of the human condition: that we're all locked in this repetitive pattern.We don't want to keep on doing the same thing over and over again, but we do.Presenter Matthew Parris is also joined by Jim Knowlson, who was a personal friend of Samuel Beckett for 19 years, and is his authorised biographer.He reveals that Beckett was far from the dour gloomy figure of popular imagination, and was in fact very good company - as long as you didn't interrupt him when he was watching the rugby on the telly on a Saturday afternoon..Producer Beth O'Dea.Business guru Sir Gerry Robinson chooses another Irishman, playwright Samuel Beckett.

24

04

Sammy Davis Jr

20101228

20101231

Lionel Blair chooses his friend and dancing partner Sammy Davis Jr.Sammy described himself as a "one-eyed black Jew" - and he was described by others as one of the greatest all-round entertainers of all time.Lionel danced and sang with Sammy in a dazzling performance on the stage at the Royal Variety Performance in 1961, and he revisits that memory through an evocative archive recording.Paul Gambaccini is on hand to help presenter Matthew Parris draw out the contradictions and triumphs of Sammy Davis Jr's great American life.Producer Beth O'Dea.Lionel Blair chooses his friend and former dancing partner Sammy Davis Jr.

24

05

Aneurin Bevan

20110104

20110107

In his time, Aneurin Bevan was, according to one biographer, "the most colourful and controversial, most loved and most loathed political personality in Britain".The founding father of the NHS is the choice of Lord Kinnock, the former leader of the Labour Party who, like Bevan, grew up in Tredegar, in the heart of the Welsh coalfields, where he met his hero many times.Kinnock regards Bevan as a hero on a level with Nelson Mandela and believes it was Nye alone who had the force of personality and political will necessary to get the Health Service established after the war.But the presenter Matthew Parris and his other studio guest, Bevan's biographer, John Campbell are more sceptical.Campbell goes so far as to argue that, the achievement of the NHS not withstanding, Nye Bevan's life was essentially a failure because, in his commitment to socialism, he misread the trend of history so completely.Now, with the NHS facing radical reform, this programme captures some of the passion and debate that surrounded its inception and provides personal insights into the life and character of the man responsible for its creation.The producer is Isobel Eaton.Future subjects in the series include Barry Cryer on JB Priestley.Lord Kinnock chooses the life of Aneurin Bevan, the founder of the NHS.

24

06

J B Priestley

20110111

20110114

Barry Cryer nods to his Yorkshire roots in choosing JB Priestley, the Bradford born author of The Good Companions and An Inspector Calls.Barry knew JB for the last ten years of his life, and fondly recalls visiting a man he loved with two members of Monty Python.Other memories include a trip to the Cafe Royal, and thoughts on Priestley's notorious love of women.Martin Wainwright, northern editor of the Guardian, presenter of last year's radio documentary about the Postscripts, also brings to life a prolific writer nearly killed in World War One.Some say he wrote so much to avoid the memories of that war.Recorded in front of an audience at the Arnolfini in Bristol, the programme includes colourful clips of JB Priestley and also Priestley's son, Tom.The only discordant note is raised by presenter Matthew Parris: "It's awfully watchable, awfully readable...but where's the magic ? Is Priestley really very good ?"The producer is Miles Warde.Barry Cryer chooses JB Priestley.Matthew Parris presents.

24

07

Gertrude Bell

20110118

20110121

was a British woman who arguably founded the modern state of Iraq.Explorer, mountaineer and archaeologist, this extraordinarily talented woman travelled widely across Arabia in the years preceding the first world war.When war came, her knowledge of the tribes, geography and politics of the area made her a vital asset to British intelligence.In the wake of British victory in Mesopotamia, she became a key figure in the the post-war administration of the turbulent area, as the British grappled with how best to reduce their military commitment while still retaining influence - a situation that was to find strong echoes in post-war Iraq 90 years later.A woman who rose to the top in a man's world, her personal life was beset with ill-starred romance and tragedy.Physicist Jim al-Khalili was born in Iraq at a time when Gertrude Bell was still revered as someone who fought for Iraqi self-determination.With the help of Bell's biographer, Janet Wallach, he explores her remarkable life.Matthew Parris chairs.Iraqi-born physicist Jim al-Khalili on the life of Gertrude Bell.

24

08

Mary Stott

20110125

20110128

The writer Katharine Whitehorn chooses Mary Stott, the great campaigning journalist and the first editor of the Guardian women's page.She's the journalist who more than anyone started the revolution in women's journalism since the 1950's.Matthew Parris presents.Katharine Whitehorn chooses Mary Stott, the great campaigning journalist.

24

09 LAST

Marcus Garvey - 2

20110201

20110204

Playwright Kwame Kwei-Armah on Marcus Garvey, the inspirational black leader.Playwright Kwame Kwei-Armah is a passionate advocate of Marcus Garvey, the inspirational black leader of the early twentieth century.Long before Martin Luther King or Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey was trying against all the odds to give black people a sense of pride, and to create the conditions in which they might hope to flourish and prosper.Kwame Kwei-Armah tells the story of Garvey's incredible rise and fall, and brings this impressive yet flawed man to life.He's joined by Colin Grant, the author of Negro with a Hat - a biography of Marcus Garvey.Presenter Matthew Parris contributes his own memories of living in both Jamaica and Africa.Producer Beth O'Dea.

25

01

Thomas Edison

20110405

20110408

Sir Clive Sinclair discusses fellow inventor Thomas Edison with Matthew Parris.Edison invented sound recording, the electric light bulb and moving pictures, but also had his fair share of duds along the way.Sir Clive invented the first electronic calculator but also the ill-fated C5 electric car.Separated by a century, do the two men have anything in common? Joining the discussion is Edison's biographer Neil Baldwin

25

02

Leonard Bernstein

20110412

20110415

The conductor Charles Hazlewood chooses the great American composer Leonard Bernstein, music director of the New York Philharmonic and creator of West Side Story, Wonderful Town, and Candide.The charismatic Bernstein clearly influenced Charles Hazlewood's own choice of career - he's an award winning conductor, made his debut at Carnegie Hall in 2003 and recently presented The Birth of British Music on BBC tv.Joining him in the studio is Humphrey Burton, friend and professional colleague of Leonard Bernstein and whose documentaries include The Making of West Side Story.Matthew Parris presents.The producer is Miles Warde.Conductor Charles Hazlewood chooses Leonard Bernstein.

25

03

Simone De Beauvoir

20110419

20110422

Actress Diana Quick tells Matthew Parris why she believes that existentialist philosopher Simone de Beauvoir lived a great life, despite living in the shadow of Jean Paul Sartre.Simone de Beauvoir was a brilliant writer and philosopher in her own right.Her study, The Second Sex, made her an iconic figure for the feminist movement, and she remained true to her intellectual honesty until her death in 1986, aged 78.Yet despite all of her achievements, she is chiefly remembered as the student of her lover and teacher, Jean Paul Sartre.Joining Matthew Parris and Diana Quick in the studio is de Beauvoir biographer Lisa Appignanesi.The producer is John Byrne.Actress Diana Quick selects philosopher Simone de Beauvoir for Great Lives.

25

04

Kathleen Ferrer

20110426

20110429

Kathleen Ferrier's was a British contralto singer who died in 1953 from breast cancer.Her professional career had lasted just 14 years but in that time she had had become an international star, singing at Covent Garden, Glyndebourne and Carnegie Hall; and had worked with such luminaries of post-war music as Benjamin Britten, Sir John Barbirolli, and Bruno Walter.Not bad for someone who had no formal training as a singer and who had left school to work in the Blackburn telephone exchange.Ferrier never lost her common touch, never became a prima donna, and retained her liking for beer, cigarettes, and risque jokes.In this programme, broadcaster Sue MacGregor tells Matthew Parris why she admires Ferrier's work.Joining the discussion is conductor Christopher Fifield who edited Ferrier's letters.Broadcaster Sue MacGregor nominates contralto Kathleen Ferrier, who died tragically young.

25

05

Lewis Carroll

20110503

20110506

Matthew Parris and writer Lynne Truss discuss the life of author Lewis Carroll.Famous for the Alice books, Carroll was also a brilliant mathematician and early photographer.But his reputation has been clouded by allegations, never substantiated, that he was a repressed paedophile.With the help of biographer Robin Wilson, Lynne and Matthew try to discover why, despite the millions of words written about him, Carroll still remains a mystery.Matthew Parris and Lynne Truss discuss the life of 'Alice' author Lewis Carroll

25

06

Petra Kelly

20110510

20110513

Green MP Caroline Lucas nominates German Green politician Petra Kelly.Kelly was one of the first Green parliamentarians to be elected anywhere in the world.Intense, charismatic and beautiful, she became an international political superstar who rejected the idea of conventional politics.But she fell out with her colleagues and became reliant on her lover, a former German army General turned peace activist, Gert Bastian.Bastian, possibly fearing exposure as a Stasi agent, murdered Kelly and himself in 1992.Joining the discussion is Kelly's biographer and former Green Party activist, Sara Parkin

25

07

Jack Johnson

20110517

20110520

It was the fight of the century, July 4th 1910, when Tim Jeffries, the so-called Great White Hope, was stopped by Jack Johnson in the 15th round.Suddenly white supremacy didn't seem so self-assured.In America there were riots, while a follow up fight in Britain - between Johnson and the British champion, Bombardier Wells - never took place.A leader in the Times newspaper had urged the promoter to consider 'the special position of trusteeship for coloured subject peoples which the British empire holds....'Jack Johnson, also known as the Galveston Giant, has been proposed by Matthew Syed, a recent sports journalist of the year.His nomination is based not only on Johnson's life, but what he came to represent.The expert is Kasia Boddy, author of Boxing: A Cultural History.The presenter is Matthew Parris and the producer Miles Warde.Jack Johnson, the Galveston Giant, first African American heavyweight boxing champion.

25

08 LAST

Harold Pinter

20110524

20110527

Matthew Parris is joined by Diane Abbott MP and biographer and critic Michael Billington to explore the life of playwright and Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter.His name - if you just add an "esque" to it, as in "Thatcheresque or Ortonesque, defines that which is 'marked especially by halting dialogue, uncertainty of identity, and air of menace'.But today's great life is not an easy man to encapsulate.He was a polymath - a playwright, poet, screenwriter, actor, director, political activist and Nobel Laureate - whom his biographer describes as 'an instinctively radical poet whose chosen medium is drama.' He was one of Britain's most celebrated writers - the 'master of the pause' - Harold Pinter.Pinter is said to have 'stamped his mark on the cultural and political scene as an observer of suburban brooding and as an irate iconoclast.' He was also born in Hackney, which may explain in part why he has been chosen by Diane Abbott, Shadow Minister for Public Health, and MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington.The programme explores Pinter's life and his appeal for Abbott with expert assistance from Pinter's biographer, the writer and critic Michael Billington.Matthew Parris introduces the life of writer Harold Pinter, chosen by Diane Abbott MP.

26

01

Graham Greene

20110802

20110805

The Third Man, Brighton Rock, Travels With My Aunt - the books of Graham Greene all still have a definite ring.But the the man himself was an enigma.He worked both as a spy as well as a foreign correspondent, and wrote endlessly about shady characters and secret affairs.This programme opens with him talking about his love of playing Russian Roulette - it turns out that Graham Greene was easily bored.Choosing Greene for Great Lives is Tim Butcher, 20 years a war reporter for the Daily Telegraph and more recently author of Blood River: A Journey to Africa's Broken Heart, a title that suggests the influence of Greeneland.Tim says that it's his depiction of seedy life that appeals.The programme also features the voices of Beryl Bainbridge, Christopher Hampton and Auberon Waugh, along with a classic clip of Trevor Howard as Scobie in the Heart of the Matter from 1953.Matthew Parris is unimpressed with Greene's treatment of his wife, Vivienne, and questions whether the image Greene created was really true.David Pearce, founding trustee of the International Graham Greene Festival offers a robust defence.Future programmes in the series include editions on Shakespeare, Kirsty MacColl, and Antonio Carluccio on the sculptor Eduardo Paolozzi.The producer is Miles Warde.War reporter Tim Butcher chooses an exploration into the strange world of Graham Greene.

26

02

Kirsty Maccoll

20110809

20110812

Broadcaster Janice Long tells Matthew Parris why singer-songwriter Kirsty MacColl led a "great life" despite her tragically early death in a boating accident in Mexico in 2000.Kirsty MacColl was a supremely gifted singer-songwriter in the "English" tradition, often compared to Ray Davies or Morrissey for her kitchen-sink realism and sardonic wit.She loved pop but insisted on witty and literate writing, and, whilst sporadically successful in her own right, she was everyone's favourite collaborative artist.She battled stage-fright and writers block to produce five outstanding albums, and worked with The Smiths, Talking Heads, the Rolling Stones, Simple Minds and U2.She once described her talent as a "one-woman-Beach Boys" for her ability to layer and orchestrate harmonies.Her father, Ewan MacColl, was a famous folk singer, but Kirsty had no interest in folk music - a clear rejection of the world her father inhabited - and wanted instead to create great, "edgy" pop records.She died in controversial circumstances when she was hit by a speedboat whilst on a diving holiday in Mexico in 2000.Broadcaster Janice Long champions the life and work of singer-songwriter Kirsty MacColl.

26

03

Emily Dickinson

20110816

20110819

's reclusive life has long gripped her biographers, but Welsh poet Gwyneth Lewis gives short shrift to any romantic or sentimental readings of her choice of a great life.Dickinson, she argues, was fiercely independent and passionate, that she "had a bomb in her breast".Matthew Parris is told by Dickinson biographer Lyndall Gordon how the American poet paradoxically turned her back on the world in order to better engage with it, and how her appeal has only broadened since her death.She died in the 1880s having only had a handful of poems published, but the boldness of her voice speaks directly to modern audiences.The reader is Lia Williams.Producer: Mark Smalley.The reclusive American poet Emily Dickinson is the choice of fellow poet, Gwyneth Lewis.

26

04

Eduardo Paolozzi

20110823

20110826

This week's Great Life, Sir Eduardo Paolozzi, hated being tagged as the father of pop art, yet his representations of images from popular culture came almost two decades before Warhol and Lichtenstein.Prolific and generous, his public sculptures populate many cities across the country, yet his name is not as well known as Moore, Hepworth or Gormley.The diversity of the forms that he worked in, and his reluctance to be packaged and promoted by agents, accounts at least partly for that.Paolozzi's personal story is no less complicated.Born in Edinburgh to Italian parents that sent him back to Fascist summer camp in Italy every year, all the men in his family, including the young Eduardo were interned when Mussolini declares war in 1940.Eduardo spent three months prison, but his father and grandfather met a far worse fate.Joining Matthew in the studio are two close friends of Paolozzi's.Nominating him is the restaurateur Antonio Carluccio, who remembers dining and cooking with Paolozzi, and marvelling at how his 'fatty sausage' fingers could produce artwork of such intricacy.Cultural historian, Professor Sir Christopher Frayling who taught with Paolozzi for many years also has many anecdotes to tell, and he and Matthew agree to differ on their appraisal of one of Paolozzi's most well known works; the mosaics at Tottenham Court Road tube station.Produced by: Sarah Langan.Restaurateur Antonio Carluccio nominates the Scottish artist Sir Eduardo Paolozzi.

26

05

William Shakespeare

20110830

20110902

No less a figure than the national bard, William Shakespeare, is nominated for great life status by poetry curator and TV producer, Daisy Goodwin.Dominic Dromgoole, Artistic Director of the Globe Theatre joins Matthew Parris to put flesh on the life that is remarkably light on known and verifiable facts.How and why did this son of an illiterate glovemaker from Stratford on Avon come to bestride the international stage, adopted not only as England's national poet, but even displacing Goethe and Schiller in Germany? Dromgoole argues that more than a sense of the man is conveyed in his 37 plays.Producer: Mark Smalley.Poetry curator Daisy Goodwin nominates the Bard himself, William Shakespeare.

26

06

Hans Fallada

20110906

20110909

The Fast Show comedian Simon Day tells Matthew Parris why he's fascinated by the life and work of German author Hans Fallada.Matthew is also joined by Fallada's biographer Jenny Williams.Hans Fallada (real name Rudolf Ditzen) was an alcoholic, a thief, a morphine addict and, prone to depression, attempted suicide twice.He lived and worked in the Germany of the 1930's and, although declared an "undesirable author," stayed in his beloved country for the duration of the Second World War.In and out of prison, sanatoriums and relationships, his volatile personal life often informed his writing (The Drinker, 1950.)Simon Day achieved fame as "Competitive Dad" and "Dave Angel, Eco-Warrior" in The Fast Show of the 1990's.More recently he has written of his battles with various addictions, and finds parallels between his own experience of addiction, and that of Hans Fallada.Fast Show comic Simon Day tells Matthew Parris why he's fascinated by writer Hans Fallada.

26

07

Edwin Lutyens

20110913

20110916

If Edwin Lutyens, the architect behind New Delhi, the Cenotaph, and the British embassy in Washington, sounds an austere, imperial figure then think again.He was fun and almost child-like - he loved to dance and doodle, and he told terrible jokes.But his great grand daughter, Jane Ridley, believes it was Lutyens' shockingly miserable marriage that inspired his greatest work.Simon Jenkins, former editor of The Times and current head of the National Trust, chooses Lutyens primarily for the quality of his work.But he also recognises that the grimness of the marriage - Emily Lutyens fell in love with Krishnamurti - spurred the architect onto greater heights.Presenter Matthew Parris initially questions whether the quality of Lutyens' sex life really needs to play a part in this tale, then declares himself underwhelmed by much of the work.Expert Jane Ridley is the author of the Architect and his Wife, and the producer is Miles Warde.Simon Jenkins proposes Edwin Lutyens, architect of New Delhi and the Cenotaph.

26

08

Hildegard Von Bingen

20110920

20110923

Cerys Matthews chooses the 12th century nun St Hildegard.Presented by Matthew Parris.When the singer Cerys Matthews first played the music of the 12th century nun, Hildegard von Bingen, on her BBC 6 music show, she said she felt she could hear the tumble weed rolling through the listeners' houses.Matthew unravels Cerys's admiration for the woman who was given by her parents as a 'tithe' to the church at the age of eight and who became one of the most influential people of her time.She wrote about the visions that she experienced from the age of three, later deemed to have been migraines, but was a true polymath, writing liturgical texts, songs, botanical studies and morality plays.Despite her religious devotion, she was no demure subject.Her influence was widespread and she even had the ear of the Pope.Beatified but never officially canonized, Matthew, Cerys and guest expert (tbc) celebrate the life of the woman who was nonetheless known to millions as Saint Hildegard von BingenProducer: Sarah Langan.

26

09 LAST

Gerald Durrell

20110927

20110930

Former England footballer Graeme le Saux champions the life of writer, broadcaster and conservationist Gerald Durrell.Graeme and presenter Matthew Parris are joined in the studio by Durrell's widow, Lee.Gerald Malcolm Durrell (1925 - 1995) was a pioneering conservationist who took on the established "zoo community" by emphasising the need to preserve endangered species, rather than just repeatedly dip in to the natural world for more animals to amuse and entertain.His work culminated in the creation of his own zoo on Jersey.It was there that a teenage islander called Graeme le Saux helped out in the gorilla enclosure, before moving on to play at left back for Chelsea and England.Former England player Graeme le Saux champions the life of conservationist Gerald Durrell.

27

01

Philip K Dick

20111206

20111209

Actor Michael Sheen (Frost/Nixon; The Queen; Midnight in Paris) explores the life of Philip K Dick with Matthew Parris, and explains why he had such a big influence on his recent production of Hamlet.Michael first discovered Philip K Dick through the film Bladerunner, and moved onto his short stories which got him thinking about science-fiction in a new way.Whilst reading about philosophy, quantum physics, and comparative mythology, it struck him how Dick was intuitively weaving narratives around all the most interesting elements that these fields were throwing up.He talks about Philip K Dick's innate interest in multiples realities, and how they overlap with Sheen's own family experiences of mental health issues.In fact the more he found out about him, the more he was drawn to this enigmatic writer.Producer: Toby Field.

27

02

Ludwig Wittgenstein

20111213

20111216

, the fascinating and misunderstood genius who changed the course of philosophy, is chosen by writer Raymond Tallis.With biographer Ray Monk, he brings alive this most enigmatic of men and his singular life.And to make sure that they don't get lost in Wittgensteinian thought, presenter Matthew Parris brings along a whistle to blow whenever he feels in danger..Producer Beth O'Dea.Ludwig Wittgenstein, fascinating and misunderstood thinker, is chosen by Raymond Tallis.

27

03

Thomas Hobbes

20111220

20111223

: the writer and psychologist Steven Pinker joins Matthew Parris to discuss the life of the great English philosopher.Noel Malcolm from All Souls College, Oxford provides the expert analysis.Power and violence are themes of the discussion of Hobbes who, Steven Pinker argues, was "perhaps the first cognitive psychologist." Although he was born in the late sixteenth century, we are fortunate to have some rich biographical description of Hobbes thanks to his contemporary and friend, the writer John Aubrey.Now, the word Hobbesian is often used to describe a world in which life is "nasty, brutish and short." But Professor Pinker suggests Hobbes was actually "a nice man, despite the fact his name became a rather nasty adjective."Producer: Chris Ledgard.Steven Pinker joins Matthew Parris to discuss the life of the philosopher Thomas Hobbes.

27

04

Ludwig Ii Of Bavaria

20111227

Brian Sewell on his long-standing love of "Mad" King Ludwig II of Bavaria, who built the ultimate fantasy castle at Neuschwanstein. From his first fateful glimpse of one of Ludwig's palaces, Brian's been fascinated with the eccentric King, and his mysterious death, and has become personally involved in the story of his life. Presenter Matthew Parris and contributor Simon Winder find out more...Producer Beth O'Dea.

27

05

Lonnie Donegan

20120103

20120106

Downton Abbey actor Jim Carter tells Matthew Parris why skiffle king Lonnie Donegan is his hero.Lonnie Donegan is probably best remembered for the novelty hits "My Old Man's a Dustman" and "Does Your Chewing Gum Lose its Flavour? " However, early hits like "Rock Island Line" were instrumental in inspiring the likes of John Lennon, Brian May and Roger Daltrey to perform.Donegan played a decisive role in the development of British popular music. His revitalisation of skiffle provided the inspiration for the whole British beat movement that was to come. Ironically, although Donevan was the catalyst, he was soon eclipsed by the young electric guitar heroes of the mid-sixties, and he was left with the comedy and cabaret circuits.Downton Abbey actor Jim Carter champions the life and work of skiffle king Lonnie Donegan.

27

06

Joseph Rotblat

20120110

20120113

Astronomer Royal Sir Martin Rees tells Matthew Parris why his hero, physicist Joseph Rotblat, lived a "great life".Rotblat was a brilliant physicist who was the only scientist to resign from the Manhattan Project once it became clear that Germany would not make an atomic bomb. Rotblat believed that all scientists have a moral obligation to work for the benefit of mankind, and spent his life campaigning against the proliferation of nuclear weapons.Joining Lord Rees and Matthew Parris in the studio is Rotblat's friend and colleague Kit Hill.Astronomer Royal Sir Martin Rees champions the life of his hero, physicist Joseph Rotblat.

27

07

Gracie Allen

20120117

2012012020140828 (R4+)20140829 (R4+)

Matthew Parris is joined by the actress Emma Kennedy to explore the life of the American comedienne Gracie Allen.Actress Emma Kennedy chooses the life of the American comedienne Gracie Allen.Matthew Parris is joined by the actress Emma Kennedy to explore the life of the American comedienne Gracie Allen. George Burns and Gracie Allen were a hugely successful stage act who went on to conquer the new media of radio and television. But, unusually for the time, it was Gracie who was getting all the laughs, whilst George played the straight man. For actress and comic Emma Kennedy, Gracie was a pioneering female comic who, with her energy, wit and "illogical logic", paved the way for the likes of Lucille Ball and Roseanne Barr. Professor Brian Ward provides the expert analysis.

Co-chairman of the Conservative party, Baroness Warsi recalls her Pakistani-born father during her Yorkshire childhood telling her about the heroic martial deeds conducted by a thirteenth century Indian princess, Razia Sultana.Descended from humble stock, the much mythologized Sultana ruled for less than four years in the 1230s, but has long been celebrated as the first female Indian Muslim leader. Sayeeda Warsi explains why she's fascinated by this character whose reign was abruptly brought to an end by the jealous rivalries of the male nobility around her who could not tolerate the fact that she had been chosen by her father above the heads of her brothers. We'll hear whether Sayeeda draws inspiration from Razia's model of bold leadership, and whether she finds parallels with her own experience of British politics today within the senior ranks of the Conservative Party.Writer and expert on India, William Dalrymple sets the scene, explaining how and why Turkish Muslims had an empire that reached as far as the Himalayas, at a time when northern India was having to withstand the Mongol incursions of Genghis Khan.Producer: Mark Smalley.Conservative politician Baroness Warsi nominates a 13th-century Indian princess.

28

01

Dylan Thomas

20120403

20120406

Dylan Thomas, arguably Wales's most famous poet, comes under scrutiny on Great Lives. A man famous both for his linguistic exuberance and his chaotic, alcohol-fuelled private life, Dylan Thomas is proposed by another Welsh poet in a specially recorded programme at Bristol's More Than Words Listening Festival.Owen Sheers is one of Britain's brightest young writers and the author of Resistance, and he is keen to bust some myths about his fellow Welshman's reputation. Joining him on stage is presenter Matthew Parris along with Damian Walford-Davies of Aberystwyth University. The programme includes archive recordings of Dylan Thomas's famous voice, and also Richard Burton reading the opening of Under Milk Wood.The producer is Miles Warde.Welsh poet Owen Sheers chooses Dylan Thomas for Great Lives.

28

02

Oscar Wilde

20120410

20120413

Oscar Wilde, author of The Importance of Being Earnest and The Ballad of Reading Gaol, is proposed by Will Self, a writer once described as a 'high powered satirical weapon'.In 1895, and at the height of his success, Wilde began libel proceedings against the Marquess of Queensberry, sparking a disastrous sequence of trials, prison, exile and disgrace. A century later Oscar Wilde is often listed as one of the wittiest Britons who ever lived, but this was a life that ended in tragedy and early death. Joining Will Self and Matthew Parris in the studio is Franny Moyle, author of a biography of Oscar Wilde's wife, Constance, an often overlooked character in Wilde's life. The programme features actor Simon Russell Beale's reading of De Profundis - From The Depths.The producer is Miles Warde

28

03

Gertrude Stein

20120417

20120420

Gertude Stein, American poet, writer and art collector, lived most of her life in France. She was one of the first people to spot the genius of Picasso, Cezanne and Matisse, and she believed she was a genius too.Opinion on that score remains divided.In Great Lives, Erin Pizzey chooses her because Stein inspired her to live a life without compromise. Since setting up the world's first refuge for battered women in 1971, Erin Pizzey has campaigned and written about domestic violence, publishing "Scream Quietly Or The Neighbours Will Hear" and her autobiography "This Way To The Revolution".Joining presenter Matthew Parris in the studio is Diana Souhami, author of "Gertrude and Alice".The producer is Isobel Eaton.Erin Pizzey chooses the American poet and writer Gertrude Stein.

28

04

George Lyward

20120424

20120427

Aged sixteen and struggling with his sexuality, Tom Robinson attempted to take his own life. Following a series of assessments and tests, he was interviewed for Finchden Manor, a therapeutic community which Robinson describes as the "last chance saloon." Under the stewardship of George Lyward, Finchden Manor was an unconventional place that gave boys the freedom to work through their issues and "help them to shape their futures."In Great Lives, musician and broadcaster Tom Robinson tells Matthew Parris how educationalist George Lyward saved his life. Former Finchden teacher Dr Norman Alm provides expert assistance. Lyward's work is also assessed in the context of last Summer's riots, and Matthew asks what should society do with its troubled teens?Producer: Toby Field.Tom Robinson explains how educationalist George Lyward saved his life.

28

05

Edward Said

20120501

20120504

was a man, who, in his own words, lived two quite separate lives. First there was the scholar and literary critic of Columbia University, and then there was the fierce critic of American and Israeli policies in the Middle East. In the United States he was an academic superstar, but his views - on Palestine in particular - made him an intensely divisive figure. He died of leukaemia in 2003.In Great Lives, Alexei Sayle explains to Matthew Parris why Edward Said, a man he met twice and described as "very noble and fiercely intelligent", inspired him. Edward Said once described the Palestinians as 'the victims of the victims'. This eloquence, on a subject that in America was taboo, still impresses Alexei Sayle today.Producer: Toby Field.Alexei Sayle explains why scholar and literary critic Edward Said inspired him.(05/08)In Great Lives, Alexei Sayle explains to Matthew Parris why Edward Said, a man he met twice and described as "very noble and fiercely intelligent", inspired him. Edward Said once described the Palestinians as 'the victims of the victims'. This eloquence, on a subject that in America was taboo, still impresses Alexei Sayle today.was a man, who, in his own words, lived two quite separate lives. First there was the scholar and literary critic of Colombia University, and then there was the fierce critic of American and Israeli policies in the Middle East. In the United States he was an academic superstar, but his views - on Palestine in particular - made him an intensely divisive figure. He died of leukaemia in 1993.

28

06

John Ford

20120508

20120511

(06/08)Eric Pickles chooses the great Hollywood director John Ford.John Ford had a monumental Hollywood career - over 140 films, Oscars he never turned up to receive, and a blunt way of approaching the business that made him enemies as well as friends. He stood up once at a meeting and said simply, "My name's John Ford, I make westerns."Eric Pickles makes an unlikely, but extremely knowledgeable guest. The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government is often depicted as a blunt man himself. But he paints a fascinating picture of his young self sitting cross legged as a boy watching The Searchers, Fort Apache and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. He realised even then that these were not westerns but a portrait of America finding itself. "When the legend becomes fact," says a newspaperman at the end of one of Ford's films, "print the legend."Joining Eric Pickles in the studio are Ed Buscombe, Matthew Parris, and wonderful archive of the tough-talking director John Ford.The producer is Miles Warde.John Ford had a monumental Hollywood career - over 140 films, Oscars he never turned up to receive, and a blunt way of approaching the business that made him enemies as well as friends. He stood up once at a meeting and said simply, "My name's John Ford, I make westerns."Eric Pickles makes an unlikely, but extremely knowledgeable guest. The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government is often depicted as a blunt man himself. But he paints a fascinating picture of his young self sitting cross legged as a boy watching The Searchers, Fort Apache and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. He realised even then that these were not westerns but a portrait of America finding itself. "When the legend becomes fact," says a newspaperman at the end of one of Ford's films, "print the legend."

28

07

Goya

20120515

20120518

Episode x07 of 8Diana Athill joins Matthew Parris to explore the life of the Spanish painter, Francisco de Goya with the help of art historian Dr Sarah Symmons and reader Javier Marzan.Goya was a 'mighty celebrant of pleasure' whose depictions of hell are 'always genuinely frightening'. He has been chosen by the celebrated memoirist and literary editor Diana Athill for his courage in bearing witness truthfully to the horrors of war, for the tenderness of his observations as a painter and for his desire to keep learning all through his life. Goya's letters, most recently edited by biographer Sarah Symmons, reveal a passionate and delightful man, playful, sensual, fascinated by people and every incarnation of human life and behaviour. Caught up in the horrors of the French invasion of Spain, some of his greatest works were produced as an elderly man, including his series of etchings 'The Disasters of War'.Diana Athill OBE helped establish the publishing company Andre Deutsch and worked with some of the twentieth century's greatest writers in her long career. Her six volumes of memoirs include the 2009 winner of the Costa Biography award 'Somewhere Towards the End', an examination of what it means to be old.Episode 8 of 08Episode 07 of 08

28

08 LAST

Sebastian Walker

20120522

20120525

Lynn Barber first met Sebastian Walker at Oxford. "He was the first person I'd ever met who was gay...quite funny looking with a big adam's apple and bespeckled face...he dressed in a very dandy way."He formed Walker Books in 1978 which, in Lynn's words, "launched a whole new era of children's book publishing." He took every opportunity to reinvent the rules of publishing - he paid the illustrators more money than anyone else, befriending the likes of Maurice Sendak and Helen Oxenbury till they agreed to work for him. He struck a deal to sell books through Sainsbury's supermarkets and justified it in the name of child literacy. Titles like 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt' and 'Where's Wally? would establish Walker Books as a major player in children's book publishing. Walker would describe the financial side of business as a "bore" preferring to spend his money on lavish parties for his friends.Lynn Barber talks to Matthew Parris about why Sebastian Walker remains such a memorable friend. They're joined by Walker's sister and biographer Mirabel Cecil who says her brother "..had very little sense of his own identity", and that his one true love was really the piano.Producer: Toby Field.

29

01

Henry Cooper

20120731

The date is June 18 1963, the final seconds of the fourth round of a boxing match. In the ring, Henry Cooper, eight years older and 26 pounds lighter than his opponent, Cassius Clay. And then Cooper hits Clay, just as the bell rings.Des Lynam was Henry Cooper's boxing co-commentator for many years. He nominates our 'Enery - or Lord 'Enery as he became - as the representative of a different era of sporting prowess. Winner of three Lonsdale belts, but never world champion himself, Henry Cooper is always remembered for his two fights with Cassius Clay, later Muhammed Ali. The programme features archive of the first of those fights, plus the voice of Cooper's famous manager, the Bishop, also known as Jim Wicks. Expert opinion is provided by Norman Giller, author of Henry Cooper: A Hero For All Time.The presenter is Matthew Parris, the producer Miles Warde.Des Lynam chooses Henry Cooper for Great Lives.

29

02

Josephine Bonaparte

20120807

, first empress of France, chosen by Janine di Giovanni."I get to Milan," wrote Napoleon. "I fling myself into your room. I have left everything in order to see you, to clasp you in my arms.... you were not there." The tale of Napoleon and Josephine is one of history's great love affairs, and while she did not win the battles he fought, she was both present, and perhaps influential, at a great moment in Europe's past. Her own life before then was equally extraordinary - born in Martinique, her first husband was executed and she was in jail too, expecting the madame guillotine at any time.Reporter Janine di Giovanni champions Josephine with the expert help of her biographer Andrea Stuart, who makes no apology for the methods Josephine employed to ensure her survival and rise. An astonishing life, though presenter Matthew Parris remains unconvinced that she was truly great. The producer is Miles Warde.

29

03

Walter Scott

20120814

20120817

Tory MP, author and adventurer Rory Stewart champions the life of Sir Walter Scott.Tory MP author and adventurer Rory Stewart champions the life of Sir Walter Scott. Presenter Matthew Parris is joined by Scott's biographer Stuart Kelly. Scott arguably invented the idea of Scottishness and marketed it to the world. But now he is virtually unread and he stands accused of saddling Scotland with tartan tat and Highland kitsch. Rory Stewart argues that Scott's version of Scottish identity represents a valid alternative to today's Scottish nationalism.Producer: Jolyon Jenkins.

29

04

Leonard Maguire

20120821

20120824

Actor Bill Paterson nominates a Scottish actor little known outside Scotland.Matthew Parris finds out why the actor Bill Paterson would nominate for Great Life status a Scottish actor little known outside Scotland. He is Leonard Maguire, who died in 1997 after a career which took in acting on stage, television, film and radio and included some wonderful writing - not bad going for a man who learned English as his third language as a child.The expert witness is Leonard Maguire's writer daughter, Susie.Produced by Christine Hall and Sarah Langan.

29

05

Grigori Rasputin

20130101

29

05

Juvenal

20120828

20120831

Comic Natalie Haynes nominates the Roman poet Juvenal about whose life we know very littleMatthew Parris invites writer and comic Natalie Haynes to explain why her nomination for a Great Life is a Roman poet about whose life we know very little. Dr Llewelyn Morgan of Brasenose College Oxford helps her explain the enduring appeal of this scurrilous writer.On the face of it, Juvenal's life is hard to defend as a Great one. In the first place - as Dr Llewelyn Morgan, lecturer in Classical Languages and Literature at Oxford, confirms - we know very little about his life. He may have been a first-generation Roman from a Spanish family; he may have served in army; he may have been sent into exile. None of this can be confirmed. What we do know is that he uses his Satires to rant and rail against women, foreigners, gays and the upstarts who are all ruining Rome - which might make him hard to love. But Natalie Haynes, veteran of the stand-up circuit and now a writer and critic, finds Juvenal an indispensable part of her life and is very happy to explain why.Producer Christine Hall.

29

06

John Stuart Mill

20130108

20130111

29

06

Stan Laurel

20120904

2012090720150219 (R4+)20150220 (R4+)

Comedian and performer Ken Dodd explains how Stan Laurel inspired him to go into comedy.In London in 1910, Stan Jefferson was understudy to Charlie Chaplin in comedy impresario Fred Karno's latest production Jimmy the Fearless. Chaplin decided it wasn't up-to-scratch and pulled out, on the eve of the opening. Stan stepped into the breach. The show was a tremendous and immediate hit, and Stan Jefferson emerged as one of the great comedy talents of the twentieth century. Or Stan Laurel, as he became known: the Laurel of Laurel and Hardy.Ken Dodd, best-known for his marathon live shows, the Diddy men and the jam-butty mines of Knotty Ash cites Stan Laurel as his inspiration for going into comedy. He says that good comedians are admired, really good comedians are revered, but great comedians like Laurel and Hardy are loved. He praises his brilliance as a clown and a creator of gags, but feels that he was financially exploited and unlucky in love.Producer: Toby Field.

29

07

Aubrey Beardsley

20130115

29

07

Karel Reisz

20120911

20120914

Film director Stephen Frears discusses the life of his mentor, Czech-born director, Karel Reisz, with the help of critic and Reisz's friend, John Lahr. Frears is one of Britain's most successful directors, responsible for "My Beautiful Laundrette", "Dangerous Liaisons", and "Dirty Pretty Things", among many others. Reisz is probably best known for "Saturday Night and Sunday Morning", and "The French Lieutenant's Woman"."Karel took me into his life and into his family and he took on the business of turning me into whatever it is I've become," Frears has said. "Without him, I wouldn't have become a film director". Matthew Parris chairs the discussion.

29

08

George Orwell -alan Johnson

20120918

20120921

Alan Johnson tells Matthew Parris about the impact George Orwell had on his life.Whilst at school, a young Alan Johnson was given some money by a teacher and told to go and buy four copies of any book for the school library. He headed down the Kings Road in Chelsea, stopping only for a sly cigarette along the way. Having already read 'Animal Farm', he picked 'Keep the Aspidistra Flying' and yearned for the life of lead character Gordon Comstock.In conversation with Matthew Parris, former Home Secretary Alan Johnson explains why Orwell was crucial to his education and political development. He's surprised to learn that Orwell is not on the National Curriculum, and insists that Orwell would have hated I.D. cards. They're joined by Jean Seaton, Professor of Media History at the University of Westminster and Chair of the Orwell Prize.Orwell was in the news recently when the outgoing Director-General of the BBC, Mark Thompson, turned down a proposal to erect a statue of George Orwell outside BBC Broadcasting House, reportedly telling Joan Bakewell that it was 'far too Left-wing an idea.'Producer: Toby Field.

29

09 LAST

Edith Wharton - Naomi Wolf

20120925

20120928

"If only we'd stop trying to be happy we could have a pretty good time." Edith Wharton is as well known for her wit as for her novels. Born in 1862, she was the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize, for The Age of Innocence in 1921. She is nominated by Naomi Wolf, the provocative American commentator and author of The Beauty Myth.Presenter Matthew Parris is also joined in the studio by Janet Beer and Avril Horner.The producer is Jolyon Jenkins.

30

01

Dick Francis

20121204

20121207

Martin Broughton nominates Dick Francis, champion jockey and champion bookseller.The date is 1956, Aintree, and Dick Francis is riding the Queen Mother's horse to victory in the Grand National. Except Devon Loch collapses bizarrely to the ground within sight of the finishing post. The jockey later says that he never recovered from this defeat. But the strange case of Devon Loch and the most famous Grand National of them all is the making of Dick Francis, who becomes both a household name and a best selling author too.Martin Broughton, chairman of British Airways, the British Horse Racing Board and - for a while - Liverpool FC, chooses Dick Francis as his example of a man who succeeded in two careers. The Francis novels have sold in millions. Philip Larkin loved the opening lines: "There was a godawful cock up in Bologna," begins The Danger.But there have been question marks over whether the books were all his own work. Mischievous biographer Graham Lord tells Miles Warde why he thinks Dick's wife, Mary, was responsible. "Garbage," says Martin Broughton. Expert opinion comes from Jonathan Powell, racing correspondent of the Mail on Sunday and a man who knew Dick Francis in his later years. The presenter is Matthew Parris, the producer Miles Warde.

30

02

Jean Cocteau

20121211

20121214

Francesca Simon tells Matthew Parris why Jean Cocteau's is a Great Life.Francesca Simon is a writer, journalist and - most famously - the creator of the "Horrid Henry" series of children's books. She describes herself as "a giddy fan" of the artist, film-maker and poet Jean Cocteau and celebrates his life and work with the help of Dr Andy Martin of Cambridge university. Matthew Parris can't wait to find out more.Producer Christine Hall.

30

03

Prince Alamayu

20121218

20121221

Lemn Sissay joins Matthew Parris to discuss Queen Victoria's favourite, Prince Alamayu.A royal prince rescued from a savage fate by the British - or a child prisoner of war? Poet Lemn Sissay joins Matthew Parris to discuss the life of Queen Victoria's favourite, the Abyssinian Prince Alamayu, and finds many surprising parallels with his own. Writer Elizabeth Laird joins the debate.Lemn Sissay MBE is a poet, playwright and performer of Ethiopian heritage who was 'raised by Wigan Social Services': 'the guilty secret of an innocent woman and a dead man'. Saved from a loveless childhood by a passion for words, Lemn's work has been inspired by the consequences of his early life and the search for his family.Prince Alamayu was uprooted from his home after the British defeated his father in the Abyssinian Expedition of 1868. Taken to England as an orphaned seven year old, speaking no English, he was befriended by the Queen and became an unwilling national celebrity. Alamayu was refused permission to return home despite the pleas of his grandmother. He died at the age of eighteen while staying with a friend in Leeds, of pleurisy.Elizabeth Laird writes fiction for children and young adults, set in places around the world where she has lived and worked, including Ethiopia. Her novel 'The Prince Who Walked with Lions' is based on the life of Prince Alamayu.In this moving and evocative programme Lemn's personal experiences of loneliness as a solitary black child in a white community, longing for a real family, shine a light on the tragic life of a young prince whose heritage he shares.Reader...Liza Sadovy.Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery.

30

04

Ralph Vaughn Williams

20121225

20121228

Matthew Parris and Stuart Maconie celebrate the life of Ralph Vaughan Williams.Matthew Parris talks to writer, broadcaster and 6Music DJ Stuart Maconie about the life of Ralph Vaughan Williams. The expert witness is Em Marshall-Luck, Chair of the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society and founder-director of the English Music Festival.Producer Christine Hall.

Grace Dent loves Nancy Mitford for her wit, and for the way in which she showed women that it was possible to live your life. Grace Dent is a TV critic, newspaper columnist, author, and broadcaster - and a feared presence on Twitter. Nancy Mitford's greatest success came with the novels The Pursuit of Love (1945) and Love in a Cold Climate (1949). Matthew Parris asks what it is about Nancy that so inspires Grace, with the aid of biographer Lisa Hilton.Producer Beth O'Dea.

30

09 LAST

William Robinson

20130129

20130201

Gardener Carol Klein's great life is William Robinson, a hero of the wild garden.Gardener Carol Klein's great life is a hero of the wild garden, William Robinson. Matthew Parris presents with expert help from Robinson's biographer Richard Bisgrove.Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery.

31

01

George Bell

20130402

20130405

"I remember seeing him sitting on the bishops' bench, and I went to him and said, George, I believe you are going to make a speech. He replied, yes I am. I said, George, there isn't a soul in this House who doesn't wish you wouldn't make the speech..." Lord Woolton, 1944George Bell, bishop of Chichester, was the most famous churchman of his day. His brave speech attacking the allies' bombing tactics in World War Two is justly remembered here by Peter Hitchens as one of the clearest, most coherent and measured statements ever made about the war. But his contemporaries did not see it quite the same way. "Don't let's be beastly to the Germans," sang Noel Coward, in part inspired by Bell's anti-war stance.But George Bell was not a pacifist - he just believed that the British should not be as barbaric, as he saw it, as the Nazis who had provoked the war. In his speech Bell said, "... to justify methods inhumane in themselves by arguments of expediency smacks of the Nazi philosophy that Might is Right." The controversy surrounding the tactics of bomber command remain alive today.Peter Hitchens is a columnist on the Mail on Sunday, and was once described by a contemporary as a 'deeply compassionate man with the air of a prophet about him; and like all prophets, doomed to be scorned by so many'. The programme discussion also includes Andrew Chandler, director of the George Bell Institute; and the presenter Matthew Parris.This series also features Galileo, Kenny Everett, Bill Shankly and Arthur Conan Doyle.The producer is Miles Warde.

31

02

Galileo

20130409

20130412

Bobby Friction - DJ and radio presenter better known for his Bhangra music remixes - champions Galileo Galilei in this weeks Great Lives. Often known as the father of modern science, Galileo was held under house arrest for proposing that the earth revolved around the sun. The presenter is Matthew Parris, with contributions from Dr David Berman from Queen Mary, University of London.Producer : Perminder Khatkar.

31

03

Kenny Everett

20130416

20130419

Chris Tarrant chooses one of the great pioneers of modern radio - a man born Maurice Cole in Liverpool in 1944, who became famous on television as Gizzard Puke, Cupid Stunt and Sid Snot. Kenny Everett's life was almost as bizarre as the characters he played, but it is for his work as a deejay that Chris Tarrant selects him. Tarrant was at Capital Radio for twenty years.Kenny Everett began his career in pirate radio, from where he was sacked. He also worked for the BBC, from where he was sacked. He made one appearance on Radio 4's Just a Minute, famously talking about marbles. Other employees included Radio Luxembourg and Capital.Presenter Matthew Parris reminisces about the Young Conservatives invitation to Kenny Everett to join them on stage in 1983 - his slogans included 'Let's Bomb Russia' and 'Let's kick Michael Foot's stick away' - while biographer James Hogg fills in some of the details of Everett's complicated personal life.The producer is Miles WardeChris Tarrant chooses one of the great pioneers of modern radio - a man born Maurice Cole in Liverpool in 1944, who became famous on television as Gizzard Puke, Cupid Stunt and Sid Snot.Kenny Everett's life was almost as bizarre as the characters he played, but it is for his work as a deejay that Chris Tarrant selects him. Tarrant was at Capital Radio for twenty years.

31

04

David Livingstone

20130423

20130426

Dr David Livingstone was the Victorian equivalent of an astronaut - a man who ventured into the interior of Africa to report on territory that was wholly unknown to Europeans. In this programme, the explorer Colonel John Blashford-Snell explains why he admires his predecessor. Matthew Parris chairs the discussion, assisted by Dr Sarah Worden of the National Museum of Scotland.Livingstone went to Africa as a missionary but succeeded in making only one convert, who soon lapsed. Frustrated, he switched his focus to exploration, crossing southern Africa from east to west and back again. He discovered the Victoria Falls, but his attempts to reach the interior by going up the Zambezi were a disaster when he discovered that the rapids he had been warned about were impassable. On his recommendation, missionary families came out from England to settle in what is now Malawi but - as he should have anticipated - many of them died of disease.Despite these failures, he was and is regarded as a hero. As a self-made man who put himself through university on his wages from working in a cotton mill, he embodied the Victorian can-do spirit. His map-making, natural history observations, facility with languages and sheer endurance in the face of overwhelming obstacles made him a formidable character. Above all, his legacy in helping to end the east African slave trade mean that he is still revered in Africa today.

31

05

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

20130430

20130503

Broadcaster Gyles Brandreth nominates Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as his "Great Life". Matthew Parris chairs, assisted by biographer Andrew Lycett.Conan Doyle is best known as the creator of Sherlock Holmes. This always irritated him, and he tried to kill off the great detective, only to bring him back by popular demand. But there was more to Conan Doyle than Holmes. A sportsman who helped bring skiing to the Alps, a campaigner against the Belgian atrocities in the Congo, and most startlingly, a convinced spiritualist who became embroiled in a public argument with Harry Houdini over whether it was possible to make contact with the dead.The paradox of Conan Doyle's life was that, having invented the most rational, cerebral fictional character of all time, he himself embraced superstition and behaved in ways that caused even his allies to despair of his credulity.

31

06

Bill Shankly

20130507

20130510

Mumsnet founder Justine Roberts champions the life of the legendary football manager Bill Shankly, who in the 1960s took Liverpool from the second division to become one of the world's greatest sides. Famous for his quip that "football is not a matter of life and death, it's much more important than that", Shankly lived and breathed football; but in his later years he felt that the Liverpool managers had frozen him out of the side he had nurtured, and betrayed him.Shankly came from humble beginnings. After school he worked down the local coal mine until the pit was closed. He never became rich and lived in a modest semi-detached house where Liverpool fans were always welcome. His life was a far cry from that of today's top managers, but through his canny playing of the transfer market, did he anticipate their methods? Matthew Parris chairs the discussion, with the aid of Shankly biographer Stephen Kelly.Producer: Jolyon Jenkins.Mumsnet founder Justine Roberts champions the life of the Liverpool manager Bill Shankly.

31

07

Salvador Dali

20130514

20130517

John Cooper Clarke, poetry's Punk Laureate, nominates Salvador Dali for great life status - melting clocks, bright red sofas in the shape of Mae West's lips, lobster telephones, trademark sharply pointed waxed moustache and all.The Bard of Salford reveals that he has an acutely observant eye when it comes to appreciating the works by Surrealism's Spanish enfant terrible, who first inspired him when a teenager at a Catholic secondary school in the city.But, asks Matthew Parris, was Dali a genius artist or just a gifted marketeer of his own brand image? "Both" comes the resounding answer from John Cooper Clarke and the eminent art historian Dawn Ades, who recalls meeting the artist when she knocked on his door in Figueres, Catalonia, as an unsuspecting student in 1968. Listen in to find out what happened next.Producer: Mark Smalley.

31

08

Primo Levi

20130521

20130524

Edmund de Waal chooses a writer he believes is one of the greatest of the modern age - Primo Levi, author of the Periodic Table. Born in 1919 in Turin, Levi was an Italian Jew, one of the few deported to Auschwitz who would escape alive.Primo Levi's account of his time in the camp, If This Is a Man, made him one of the first writers to document the Holocaust and it established his name around the world. But Levi was not just a writer. He was a chemist, which gave him the skills that helped save his life in Auschwitz. It was also a day job he never gave up, and his passion for science remained a life-long pursuit.After the War, Levi returned to Turin, married, had a family and wrote books in his spare time. He also became an enthusiastic letter-writer, corresponding with a new generation of Germans, to help them better understand the effects of the Nazi regime. Yet from his youth, Levi suffered from depression. In 1987 he took his own life, throwing himself down the stairwell in the house where he'd been born.Ceramicist and author Edmund de Waal joins Matthew Parris to discuss how Levi's work inspired The Hare With Amber Eyes - his own memoir of his family's history as Jews in 19th and 20th century Europe. And biographer Ian Thomson, one of the last to interview Levi, explains why we shouldn't confuse Levi the writer with Levi the man.Producer: Lizz Pearson.Edmund de Waal, author of The Hare with Amber Eyes, chooses Holocaust writer Primo Levi.

31

09 LAST

Florence Nightingale

20130528

20130531

Dr Lucy Worsley chooses a figure as familiar as she is unknown, the great champion of Victorian nursing, Florence Nightingale. Known as 'the Lady with the Lamp' for her work in the Crimea, Florence was however not just a nurse. She was a health administrator and statistician, whose work laid the foundations for the development of the NHS.Born in 1820 into an upper middle class family, Florence experienced early life as a bird in a gilded cage and suffered frequent 'nervous collapse'. Prodigiously intelligent, she was also deeply religious, and at 16 declared she had heard the voice of God, calling her to nursing. By her thirties, and despite opposition from her family, Florence had succeeded in training as a nurse. She was working in a Harley Street establishment for the care of gentlewomen when Britain and France joined Turkish forces against the Russians in the Crimea. As reports came in of the men's suffering, she became convinced of her ability to help.Commissioned by the War Office, Florence set sail for the Crimea in 1854, and her work there quickly became well known. Walking the corridors with her lamp, she was adored by the men for her determination to spare them the diseases like cholera and typhus that were decimating their numbers. But she was as steely as she was compassionate, and ran her troop of nurses with a military discipline. In Britain her reputation grew.By the time of her return two years later, Florence was a reluctant celebrity, frail and ill. While her mother and sister basked in her glory, Florence retreated from the limelight, and for some years was bed-bound. It's now believed she had brucellosis, an illness contracted through infected milk, which leads to depression and severe pain. Yet this did not stop her engagement with medicine, and even from her bed she was instrumental in changing the way that healthcare was implemented both in the Army, and in society at large. Statistics was key to this, and a passion for Florence, who saw in the gathering of data, the evidence of God's patterns at work. She also famously established a school for nursing, and professionalised nursing work.Dr Lucy Worsley, television historian, writer and Chief Curator at Historic Royal Palaces, the independent charity that looks after buildings including Hampton Court and the Tower of London, joins Matthew Parris to discuss the complex background of 'the Lady with the Lamp'. And biographer Mark Bostridge explains why Nightingale has a right to be regarded as a great genius of the Victorian age.Producer: Lizz Pearson.

32

01

Ivor Novello

20130806

20130809

Astrologer and performer Russell Grant chooses one of the greatest screen legends of cinema's early years - Ivor Novello. Born in 1893 in Cardiff, he was also a talented writer and composer, and would dominate both screen and stage with his epic romantic fantasies, until his death in 1951.The son of a Cardiff rent collector and an internationally renowned singing tutor, Novello, born David Ivor Davies, had a musical childhood. He was a gifted choirboy, and composer, but when his voice broke, he did not sing again. His ambitious mother saw his future in classical composition and moved with him to London before the First World War, to pursue his fame. He would live near to London's theatrical heartland, Drury Lane, all of his life.Novello did not have to wait long for recognition. After a brief stint in the Royal Naval Air Service, he burst onto the musical scene in the First World War with the song Keep the Home Fires Burning. This success led to a number of commissions to write for the London stage, with his style more operetta, than musical theatre.In the 1920s, he began his film career, and he starred in both silent films and the first 'talkies', becoming a favourite of Alfred Hitchcock in the film 'The Lodger'. Novello had a magnetic screen presence, and was a box office favourite with men and women a like. His friend Noel Coward said that the two most perfect things in the world were his own wit, and Novello's profile.After a brief spell in Hollywood, where he scripted dialogue for 'Tarzan', Novello returned to Britain and wrote a string of successful numbers for Drury Lane. Theatre-land in the 1930s, was struggling, but each of Novello's romantic operettas proved a huge success. However, his fortunes turned during the Second World War, when he was briefly jailed for the misuse of petrol coupons. The month he spent in Wormwood Scrubs would have a lowering effect on him for the rest of his life. His last West End production was the lavish King's Rhapsody, and he performed up until the night of his death of coronary thrombosis, in 1951.Astrologer and entertainer Russell Grant first came to know Novello's work when he too performed in a version of King's Rhapsody in the 1970s, and he has loved his music ever since. He joins Richard Stirling, author of the stage biography of Novello, 'Love From Ivor', and the adaptor of one of Novello's last productions, Gay's the Word.Produced by Lizz Pearson.

32

02

Fela Kuti

20130813

Poet, playwright, and critic Gabriel Gbadamosi chooses as his Great Life the political maverick and inventor of Afrobeat, musician Fela Kuti, and tells Matthew Parris why his work deserves to be better known.Whether withstanding ferocious beatings from the Nigerian police, insulting his audiences, or demanding a million pounds in cash upfront from Motown records, his strength and stubbornness were legendary, and his gift for controversy unmatched.Fela had more than 25 wives, some of whom he beat, and was President of his own self proclaimed Republic. He smoked dope and was the scourge of the rulers of a corrupt Nigerian state and was acclaimed as having the best live band on earth.Gabriel Gbadamosi is joined by Stephen Chan, professor of International Relations at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, to discuss the musical and political life of this outspoken force of nature.Presenter: Matthew Parris Producer: Melvin Rickarby.

32

03

Rabindranath Tagore

20130820

Playwright Tanika Gupta chooses as her Great Life, a man who is a hero to Bengali speakers across the World, Rabindranath Tagore.Born in 1861, to a wealthy family in Calcutta, Tagore would be the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, his work spanning every genre. He was also a humanist, philanthropist, and thinker, whose friends included Yeats and Gandhi.Tagore began writing in his boyhood, and his work reflects a deep feeling for the landscape of Bengal. His plays, essays, stories and poetry quickly found a ready audience in Bengali speakers. And in 1913, when he won the Nobel Prize for Literature for his poetry collection 'Gitanjali', or 'Song Offerings', his reputation was established world-wide.Tagore's brand of humanism, his anti-imperial politics, and his literature, took him around the World. It also convinced him of the dangers of European aggression and the need for Indian Independence. He died just six years before it was achieved.Playwright Tanika Gupta joins Matthew Parris to share her deep love of Tagore's work and her early experiences of performing it. She is joined by Tagore's translator, Ketaki Kushari Dyson, to discuss Tagore's vast legacy to Bengali speakers and beyond.The producer is Lizz Pearson.

32

04

Ava Gardner

20130827

20130830

Writer Julie Burchill talks to Matthew Parris about Hollywood star Ava Gardner.The writer Julie Burchill talks to Matthew Parris about the Hollywood star Ava Gardner. They're joined by Ava's biographer Lee Server. Often described as "the most beautiful woman in the world", Ava Gardner made 65 movies, ranging from 'Mogambo' (for which she won an Oscar nomination) to 'Maisie Goes To Reno' (for which she didn't). She had three husbands (Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw and Frank Sinatra) and hundreds of lovers including Howard Hughes, David Niven, Robert Mitchum, John F.Kennedy and various playboys, beach-boys and bullfighters. She was, says Matthew Parris, a "hard-drinking, wisecracking, libidinous vamp - a liberated woman before the phrase was invented.

32

04

Sir David Chipperfield On Le Corbusier

20131231

32

05

David Baddiel On John Updike

20140107

32

05

Paul Mason On Louise Michel

20130903

20130906

Paul Mason talks to Matthew Parris about 19th-century French anarchist Louise Michel.TV journalist and writer Paul Mason talks to Matthew Parris about the 19th Century French anarchist, Louise Michel, heroine of the Paris Commune. They're joined by historian Carolyn Eichner who says that Michel "expounded action and aggression with a theatrical, infectious elegance."Known as 'the Red Virgin of Montmartre', Michel fought on the barricades in the short-lived revolution of 1871. Captured and tried by the French government, she told her accusers: "Since it seems that every heart that beats for freedom has no right to anything but a little lump of lead, I demand my share. If you let me live, I shall never cease to cry for vengeance and l shall avenge my brothers. If you are not cowards, kill me!"She served seven years in a penal colony in the South Pacific and seven thousand Parisians turned out to welcome her home. She was a school teacher, writer, orator, anthropologist, feminist and cat-lover. She wrote some moving poems - and an opera about the destruction of the world.Producer: Peter Everett

32

06

Dave Allen Chosen By Adil Ray

20140114

32

06

George Devine

20130910

20130913

Matthew Parris is joined by Peter Bowles to discuss the life of director George Devine.Matthew Parris is joined by actor Peter Bowles who nominates George Devine, groundbreaking artistic director of the Royal Court Theatre. Devine battled against repressive censorship, enhanced the careers of actors like Lawrence Olivier and Peggy Ashcroft, and by discovering writers like John Osborne and other Angry Young Men changed British theatre forever. Helping guide us through the landscape of Devine's life is Philip Roberts, Emeritus Professor of Drama and Theatre Studies at the University of Leeds.Produced in Bristol by Melvin Rickarby.

32

07

Ada Lovelace

20130917

20130920

Lord Byron's only legitimate child is championed by Konnie Huq.From Banking, to air traffic control systems and to controlling the United States defence department there's a computer language called 'Ada' - it's named after Ada Lovelace - a 19th century mathematician and daughter of Lord Byron. Ada Lovelace is this week's Great Life. She's been called many things - but perhaps most poetically by Charles Babbage whom she worked with on a steam-driven calculating machine called the Difference Engine an 'enchantress of numbers', as her similarly mathematical mother had been called by Lord Byron a "princess of parallelograms". Augusta 'Ada' Byron was born in 1815 but her parents marriage was short and unhappy; they separated when Ada was one month old and she never saw her father , he died when was eight years old. Her mother, Annabella concerned Ada might inherit Byron's "poetic tendencies" had her schooled her in maths and science to try to combat any madness inherited from her father. She's championed by TV presenter and writer -Konnie Huq, most well known for presenting the BBC's children's programme - 'Blue Peter' and together with expert- Suw Charman- Anderson, a Social technologist, they lift the lid on the life of this mathematician, now regarded as the first computer programmer with presenter Matthew Parris.Producer : Perminder Khatkar.

32

07

Mark Constantine On Kahlil Gibran

20140121

32

08

Dj Sara Cox Nominates Singer Lisa 'left Eye' Lopes

20140128

32

08

John Steinbeck

20130924

20130927

Matthew Parris is joined by Brendan Barber, who nominates John Steinbeck as his Great LifeMatthew Parris is joined by trade unionist Sir Brendan Barber who nominates American author John Steinbeck as his Great Life. The author of The Grapes of Wrath aimed to fight the cause of the common man, was derided by the right as a Communist and by the left as a sell-out for supporting the Vietnam war. Brendan Barber picks through the politics and explains how Steinbeck influenced him as a teenager to look towards joining the trade union movement.After early success, describing the catastrophic effects of the Great Depression and the Dustbowl in Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck became war correspondent, nobel laureate, presidential speechwriter, Hollywood scriptwriter, and environmentalist. Professor Christopher Bigsby from the University of East Anglia helps guide us through the life of a man described as 'America's Charles Dickens'.Producer: Melvin Rickarby.

32

09 LAST

Al Murray On Bernard Montgomery

20131001

20131004

"In defeat, unbeatable; in victory, unbearable" - so said Winston Churchill on this week's Great Live, Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery. Many would argue that he was Britain's greatest field commander since Wellington - arrogant, hard to like but undeniably successful - one of the most, perhaps the most, conspicuously successful British commander of the Second World War. He was a national celebrity. In this edition of Great Lives - Al Murray - comedian and TV personality best known for his character of 'The Pub Landlord' champions Monty - and Al starts off by showing presenter Matthew Parris his action figure doll of the man.Producer : Perminder Khatkar.Comedian Al Murray champions the life of Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery.

33

01

Hank Williams

20131210

20131213

A new series of Great Lives with Matthew Parris begins with the life of the 'Hillbilly Shakespeare' Hank Williams as chosen by Deacon Blue singer Ricky Ross. Williams is regarded as being the prototype rock star and continues to be hugely influential on musicians today despite a short recording career of just six years before he died at the age of 29Producer: Maggie Ayre.

33

02

Allen Ginsberg

20131217

20131220

Michael Horovitz On Allen GinsbergMatthew Parris is joined by Michael Horovitz who nominates fellow poet and founder of the Beat generation Allen Ginsberg as his Great Life. Ginsberg's friend and biographer Barry Miles provides biographical detail of this colourful and controversial writer, who through his battle for free expression inspired American counter culture.Producer: Melvin Rickarby.

33

03

Isabella Bird

20131224

20131227

Meg Rosoff On Isabella BirdNovelist Meg Rosoff explores the life of the Victorian travel writer Isabella Bird.At home in Edinburgh Isabella Bird was the very picture of the ailing Victorian spinster but the moment her tiny feet hit the gangway of a steamer or squeezed into the stirrups of a horse she was transformed. Taking a doctor's advice to travel for the sake of her health Isabella headed for Australia, Japan, Korea and Hawaii before finding her spiritual home amongst the most rotten scoundrels of America's West.In 'Great Lives' the award-winning author of novels including 'How I Live Now' and 'The Bride's Farewell', Meg Rosoff explains why Isabella's transformation has inspired her books and her love of horses.She's joined by David McClay from the National Library of Scotland who maintains an archive of Isabella's colourful correspondence from the farthest flung corners of the Earth.

33

04

Le Corbusier

20131231

20140103

Sir David Chipperfield On Le CorbusierPioneer of Modern architecture, Le Corbusier, chosen by award winning architect Sir David Chipperfield.Le Corbusier aimed to build a better world through radical buildings and the controversial reshaping of whole cities. Flora Samuel, Professor of Architecture at the University of Sheffield, joins Matthew Parris to unpick the life of a man who considered himself a herioc figure, fighting battles to improve the world.Presenter: Matthew Parris. Producer: Melvin Rickarby.

33

05

John Updike

20140107

20140110

David Baddiel On John UpdikeHis novels perfectly captured the shifting moral codes of middle America in the 1970s and 80s but do John Updike's novels still have something important to tell us today? The writer and comedian David Baddiel makes the case for Updike in conversation with Matthew Parris and the novelist and Updike expert, Justin Cartwright.

33

06

Dave Allen Chosen By Adil Ray

20140114

20140117

Comedian Dave Allen is chosen by Adil Ray, creator and star of Citizen Khan. He explains to Matthew Parris how the legendary Irish comic helped shape his own career.Producer: Perminder Khatkar.Comedian Dave Allen is chosen by Adil Ray, creator and star of Citizen Kahn. He explains to Matthew Parris how the legendary Irish comic helped shape his own career.

33

07

Mark Constantine On Kahlil Gibran

20140121

20140124

Snubbed and practically ignored by the literary establishment in the West, this week's Great Live is Kahlil Gibran author of 'The Prophet'. Regarded by millions as a world class poet his work, published in 1923, has never been out of print and next to the bible is the biggest selling book in America. Businessman Mark Constantine champions the poet and together with the actor Nadim Sawalha. Matthew Parris is the presenter.Producer : Perminder Khatkar.

Michael Palin first came across his Great Life when he was studying for school exams, and his love of Ernest Hemingway has never gone away. He, along with expert Naomi Wood, tells Matthew Parris why this twentieth century legend is a Great Life.Producer: Perminder Khatkar.

Writer Jonathan Meades nominates the English artist Edward Burra. Matthew Parris chairs.Writer Jonathan Meades nominates the English artist Edward Burra, who died in 1976, for "great life" status, arguing that he deserves to be better known.Burra painted sailors, drinkers and prostitutes in Toulon; jazz musicians in Harlem; surreal wartime pictures of soldiers in terrifying bird masks; and, in his later years, landscapes in which anthropomorphic and malevolent machines bite chunks out of the countryside. Disabled with rheumatoid arthritis from an early age, Burra barely went to school and so escaped the Edwardian upper class upbringing that would otherwise have been his destiny. At once camp yet apparently celibate, Burra was intensely private and disliked talking about either himself or art - or, as he called it, "fart".Matthew Parris chairs the discussion, and is joined by Burra's biographer Jane Stevenson.Producer: Jolyon Jenkins.

34

02

Jazzie B On James Brown

20140812

Matthew Parris invites his guests to nominate the person whom they feel is a great life. In this programme, music entrepreneur and DJ Jazzie B of Soul II Soul chooses American singer and musician, James Brown, 'the Godfather of Funk'.Jazzie B, who was awarded a CBE for services to black British music, spent time with James Brown towards the end of his life and says he became 'like a big brother' to him. Here, together with music journalist Charles Shaar Murray, they talk to Matthew about why they believe 'Mr Brown' is a Great Life.Producer: Maggie Ayre.

34

02

Sarah Vine On Dante

20140408

20140411

Sarah Vine chooses Dante, author of the Italian literary masterpiece The Divine Comedy."Whenever I have too much to drink, I bang on about Dante...." Sarah Vine makes a choice from the heart - the great Italian writer Dante Alighieri, father of the Italian language and author of the Divine Comedy. "I'm not an expert," she says, "mine is more of a romantic infatuation."Joining the outspoken Daily Mail columnist - listed recently with her husband, Michael Gove, on a 'most wanted' dinner party guest list - is Claire Honess, professor of Italian studies at Leeds University. Together they piece together an extraordinary life. Includes extracts from Radio 4's current production of the Divine Comedy starring John Hurt.Matthew Parris presents, the producer is Miles Warde.

34

03

Baroness Oona King On Ida B Wells

20140819

Matthew Parris leads a discussion on Ida B. Wells the African American civil rights and women's rights activist who was a political trailblazer. Throughout her life, Wells was militant in her demands for equality and justice for black Americans and she encouraged the African American community to fight for positive change through their own efforts. She was an investigative journalist who highlighted the practice of lynching in the United States, showing how it was used as a way to control or punish blacks , often under the guise of trumped up rape charges. Ida was also active in women's rights and the women's suffrage movement, establishing several notable women's organizations. She was a skilled and inspiring rhetorician, and travelled internationally on lecture tours. She is the great life chosen this week by Baroness Oona King.

34

03

Sir Mark Walport On Sir Hans Sloane

20140415

20140418

Sir Hans Sloane, founder of the British Museum, is championed by Sir Mark Walport.Sir Mark Walport, the government's Chief Scientific Advisor champions the life of Sir Hans Sloane, founder of the British Museum. Along with expert Marjorie Caygill they tell Matthew Parris why they think Sloane is the mother and father of all collectors.Producer : Perminder Khatkar.

34

04

Marcus Du Sautoy On Jorge Luis Borges

20140422

Mathematician Marcus du Sautoy chooses the blind Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges for Great Lives. He is fascinated by the connection between the creator of 'The Library of Babel' and science - did Borges really understand notions of infinity and space ? Biographer Jason Wilson adds colourful detail to the life of a great writer whom he insists was just being impish when it came to the weighty matters that have excited more than one mathematician over the years. The programme includes beautiful recordings of Borges in conversation in 1971. Marcus du Sautoy is the Charles Simonyi Professor for the Understanding of Science. The presenter is Matthew Parris, and the producer is Miles Warde.

34

04

Ray Mears On Rommel

20140826

The life of Erwin Rommel, for a time Hitler's favourite general is nominated by Ray Mears. Matthew Parris hears why this German soldier was a "great life". They are also joined by Dr Niall Barr, Reader in Military History, Defence Studies Department at Kings College, London.Producer: Perminder Khatkar.

34

05

Deborah Moggach On Arnold Bennett

20140429

20140502

Biographical series presented by Matthew Parris.Writer Deborah Moggach nominates the author Arnold Bennett whose work she thinks has been wrongly overlooked. Deborah thinks that the work of the Staffordshire writer Arnold Bennett has been forgotten, largely due to snobbery on the part of the Bloomsbury Set who dismissed it as being too popular. Moggach believes that because he was a working writer who earned his living writing both serious and light fiction, he was not taken seriously after his death in 1931 despite his books being hugely popular during his lifetime. Bennett wrote many novels from Anna of the Five Towns set in his native Potteries district of Staffordshire to The Old Wives Tale and The Grand Babylon Hotel. As a journalist, he also wrote self help and lifestyle articles for magazines from How to Bathe a Baby Part One to Do Rich Women Quarrel More Frequently Than poor? Gyles Brandreth has been a lifelong fan of the works of Arnold Bennett and believes he is one of the greatest writers of the 20th century who deserves to be rediscovered.Producer: Maggie Ayre.

34

05

Tom Shakespeare On Gramsci

20140902

20140905

Dr Tom Shakespeare tells Matthew Parris why Antonio Gramsci is his Great Life.Dr Tom Shakespeare, lecturer at the Medical School in the University of East Anglia and prominent campaigner for the rights of the disabled, explains to Matthew Parris why the life and work of the Italian left-wing revolutionary Antonio Gramsci means a great deal to him personally. They are joined in the studio by Professor Anne Sassoon.Producer Christine Hall.

34

06

Isy Suttie On Jake Thackray

20140506

20140509

Jake Thackray hated being known as the north country Noel Coward, but at the height of his fame the description stuck. His songs are very British, but his influences were European - Georges Brassens and Jacques Brel.Nominating Jake Thackray is Isy Suttie, Dobby from Peep Show and star of the A-Z of Mrs P.The presenter is Matthew Parris and the producer Miles Warde.more to come.

34

06

Labi Siffre On Arthur Ransome

20140909

20140912

Matthew Parris invites singer-songwriter Labi Siffre to nominate his choice of life.Matthew Parris invites his guests to nominate the person who they feel is a great life. This week singer-songwriter Labi Siffre discusses the life and work of Arthur Ransome. Siffre says that the Swallows and Amazons books taught him responsibility for his own actions and a morality that have influenced and shaped him throughout his life.Producer: Maggie Ayre.

34

07

John Craven On Brunel

20140513

20140516

Countryfile presenter John Craven proposes Victorian Engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, as a great life. He's joined by engineering historian Julia Elton and presenter Matthew ParrisAnd where better to discuss Brunel's achievements than by the harbour in Bristol in the shadow of his magnificent steam ship the SS Great Britain. But should his creator of great machines himself be considered a great man or is finest achievement the engineering of his own reputation?Recorded at the Food Connections Festival in Bristol.

34

07

Stella Rimington On Dorothy L Sayers

20140910

20140916

Dame Stella Rimington, former director of MI5 and a celebrated crime writer herself, nominates for a Great Life that of Dorothy L Sayers. Sayers' first Lord Peter Wimsey novel was published in the 1920s, the Golden Age of crime fiction, and he is still very much with us, appearing often on Radio 4 Extra. She went on to enjoy a huge popularity with her crime novels and then turned to writing Christian essays and plays, most notably the series for the BBC on the life of Christ - which stirred up a great controversy as no-one had before impersonated Jesus on the radio. Dame Stella tells Matthew Parris why the paradoxes and contradictions in Dorothy Sayers' life fascinate her, and explains how Sayers' writing influences her own. With Seona Ford, chairman of the Dorothy L Sayers Society.Dame Stella Rimington explains to Matthew Parris why Dorothy L Sayers fascinates her.

Matthew Parris hears from Labour peer Lord Adonis why Joseph Bazalgette, the Victorian engineer, has his nomination as a Great Life.Bazalgette, the grandson of a French immigrant who made a fortune lending money to the Hanoverian royal family, is one of the most important of the great Victorian engineers. He not only built a sewage system for London which wiped out cholera in the city, he also built the famous Embankments, laid out several of the main thoroughfares and built or improved many of the city's landmark bridges. Yet he is far less well-known than his flamboyant contemporary Brunel and less celebrated than the creators of the railways. With the help of Joseph Bazalgette's great-great-grandson Sir Peter Bazalgette, the man responsible for Ready Steady Cook and Big Brother and now Chairman of the Arts Council, Matthew pieces together the story of Sir Joseph Bazalgette, "The Sewer King."Producer Christine Hall.

34

08

Emma Kirkby On Henry Purcell

20140520

20140523

Soprano Emma Kirkby discusses the life of English composer Henry Purcell with Matthew Parris. Despite dying at the age of 36, Purcell was arguably the first composer to become a national figure, as shown by his funeral at Westminster Abbey. Living through turbulent times, and through the reign of three monarchs, Purcell had to cope with shifting Catholic and Protestant regimes while producing a steady output of religious music. But he also did some of his most memorable and enduring work for the commercial theatre. Few composers have set the English language to music so felicitously. After his death, Britain produced few world class composers for 200 years. To discuss his legacy, Emma and Matthew are joined by Purcell scholar Michael BurdenProducer: Jolyon Jenkins

Comedian Arthur Smith tells Matthew Parris about the life of Olympic runner Emil Zatopek.Matthew Parris - himself current holder of the House of Commons marathon record time - meets comedian Arthur Smith, who also turns out to have been a runner when he was younger, and whose choice for a Great Life is an athlete whom he has admired since his childhood.Emil ZĂˇtopek emerged onto the international stage in 1948 when he became a sensation at the Olympics in London, but it was his performance in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics which put him in the record books. Already an established distance runner, he bagged gold in the 5000 and 10000 metres and then, having previously given no hint that he would be a champion marathon runner, he also won that race.The expert witness is Pat Butcher, writer and ex-runner, who is working on a biography of ZĂˇtopek, and he argues that no-one is likely ever to equal ZĂˇtopek's achievement in winning gold in three different distance events.ZĂˇtopek retired from competitive running in 1957 and later fell heavily out of favour with the post- Dubcek regime in Czechoslovakia but was rehabilitated after 1989 and remains a much-cherished hero in Czech Republic and among the running community.Producer Christine Hall.

35

02

Laura Bates On Louisa M Alcott

20141216

20141219 (R4)

Journalist Laura Bates tells Matthew Parris why Louisa M Alcott is her Great Life.Laura Bates, journalist and curator of the Everyday Sexism Project, explains to Matthew Parris why the 19th century children's author Louisa M. Alcott has her vote for a Great Life. They are joined by Sarah Churchwell, Professor of American Literature at the University of East Anglia.Louisa May Alcott is best known as the writer of Little Women, the story of four sisters growing up during the Civil War in America. Generations of girls have read the book, which at first sight seems to be an improving tract on growing up and becoming good Christian wives.Both Laura and Sarah have a very different reading of the book and believe Louisa M. Alcott to have been a remarkable woman and a dedicated feminist.Producer Christine Hall.

35

03

Michael Young

20141223

Brian Eno has worked with David Bowie, David Byrne and U2 but his choice of Great Life is not a rock star but the sociologist Lord Young of Dartington.Michael Young wrote the Labour party's 1945 election manifesto, researched slum clearance in the East End of London, set up the Consumers' Association, coined the word meritocracy, co-founded the Open University and planned the colonisation of Mars. With the help of Michael's son Toby, Brian considers the life and work of one of the architects of post-war Britain. Producer: Julia Johnson.

35

04

Roald Dahl

20141230

20150102 (R4)

Writer Roald Dahl is well known as the author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Fantastic Mr Fox and The BFG, but he was also fascinated by medical science. Professor Tom Solomon, who looked after him during his last illness, spent hours discussing medicine with Dahl.Tom talks to Matthew Parris about Dahl's life and work, through the prism of his forensic interest in the workings of the human body. With them is Donald Sturrock, Dahl's biographer.Producer Christine Hall.Matthew Parris finds out about the life of writer Roald Dahl from one of his doctors.

35

05

Philippa Langley On Richard Iii

20150106

20150109 (R4)

Matthew Parris talks to Philippa Langley about the life of Richard III.When Philippa Langley and other members of the Richard III Society helped to discover the body of the king in a Leicester car park, Richard's life once again became a hotly contested debating point. Philippa joins Matthew Parris to defend Richard III as a Great Life, with expert witness and Richard biographer Annette Carson. Can the man who may have been responsible for the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower really be described as "great"? Or was he the victim of Tudor propaganda and Shakespearian slander?Producer Christine Hall.

35

06

Michael Dobbs On Guy Burgess

20150113

20150116 (R4)

Michael Dobbs looks back at the life of Cambridge spy Guy Burgess.Michael Dobbs champions the life of Guy Burgess - journalist, diplomat and spy. Between 1935 and 1951, Guy Burgess worked for a Conservative MP, the BBC, MI6 and the Foreign Office. Brilliant, flamboyant and apparently shambolic, he also shot like an arrow to the heart of the Establishment and secretly and systematically betrayed its secrets to the KGB. Matthew Parris chairs as Michael explains why he believes that Guy Burgess was a Great Life. Burgess's biographer Stewart Purvis, who uncovered the only known audio recording of Guy Burgess, is the expert witness.Producer: Julia Johnson.

35

07

Nora Ephron

20150120

Former newspaper editor and writer Eve Pollard tells Matthew Parris why Nora Ephron, the screenwriter of hit films such as 'When Harry Met Sally', 'Heartburn', and 'Sleepless in Seattle', is a Great Life.They are joined by Dr Jennifer Smyth, an historian whose teaching includes women in Hollywood at the University of Warwick.Producer: Perminder Khatkar.

35

08 LAST

Mervyn King On Risto Ryti

20150127

20150130 (R4)

Mervyn King champions the life of former prime minister of Finland Risto Ryti.Mervyn King, former Governor of the Bank of England tells Matthew Parris why the life of the Prime Minister of Finland Risto Ryti was so remarkable.They are also joined by expert and biographer Martti Turtola.Producer: Perminder Khatkar.

36

01

Sir Trevor Mcdonald On Learie Constantine

20150407

20150410 (R4)

Veteran broadcaster Sir Trevor McDonald chooses fellow Trinidadian Learie Constantine.The veteran broadcaster Sir Trevor McDonald chooses the life of Learie Constantine, the Trinidadian cricketer, politician and broadcaster who championed the rights of West Indians in Britain during the war years and afterwards.Producer: Maggie Ayre.

36

02

Rachel Johnson On Ottoline Morrell

20150414

Rachel Johnson author and journalist champions the life of Ottoline Morrell. The Bloomsbury hostess, a mistress, a dominant figure in the arts without being an artist herself was often mocked and ridiculed. Rachel tells Matthew Parris why her extraordinary life was a great life. They are also joined by author and one of Lady Ottoline's biographers Miranda Seymour.Producer : Perminder Khatkar.

36

03

Kulvinder Ghir On Zoran Music

20150421

20150424 (R4)

Comedian and actor Kulvinder Ghir nominates the artist Zoran Music.Comedian and actor Kulvinder Ghir nominates the life of the artist Zoran Music. Matthew Parris finds out about Music who sketched corpses during and after he survived the horrors of being held at Dachau- a concentration camp in 1944.They are also joined by art critic, curator Michael Peppiatt who was a friend and an admirer of Zoran Music in this week's Great Life.Producer: Perminder Khatkar.

36

04

Dame Helen Ghosh On James Lees-milne

20150428

20150501 (R4)

Matthew Parris talks to Dame Helen Ghosh about James Lees-Milne.Matthew Parris's guest is Dame Helen Ghosh, Director General of the National Trust, who chooses as her Great Life that of James Lees-Milne who worked for the Trust between 1936 and 1966. He was responsible for acquiring many of the Trust's most iconic properties and his particular talent was his ability to persuade the aristocratic owners of the houses into handing them over to the Trust for protection. His other talent was for writing, and it is his deliciously indiscreet diaries for which many people know him. Merlin Waterson, who was a friend of Lees-Milne's, is the expert witness.Producer Christine Hall.

36

05

Wendy Cope On John Clare

20150505

20150508 (R4)

Matthew Parris and Wendy Cope explore the life of poet John Clare."John Clare, I cried last night for you" wrote Wendy Cope in a poem dedicated to the earlier poet, who overcame monumental setbacks - including a poverty-stricken upbringing and a long struggle with mental illness - to write some of the most sensitive poetry in the English language. At one point he was famous as "the English Robert Burns" but his fame dropped away vertiginously and many people now know him solely for his cri de coeur, "I Am." Clare's biographer, Sir Jonathan Bate, joins Wendy in the studio with Matthew Parris to consider how Clare's life is both inspirational and great.Producer Christine Hall.

36

06

Antonia Quirke On Marlon Brando

20150512

Marlon Brando - greatest actor of the twentieth century ? Film critic Antonia Quirke definitely thinks he is. But the star of the Godfather, On the Waterfront and A Streetcar Named Desire divides opinion in this lively assessment of his life. With contributions from writer Robyn Karney and Joe Queenan in the United States. Matthew Parris presents.The producer is Miles Warde.

36

07

Us Ambassador Matthew Barzun On Jg Winant

20150519

20150522 (R4)

Matthew Parris meets the American Ambassador Matthew Barzun whose choice of great life is his wartime predecessor, John Gil Winant - the man widely held to have helped seal the special relationship between Britain and America and to have brought the US into the war effort.Producer: Maggie Ayre.

36

08

David Blunkett On Louis Braille

20150526

20150529 (R4)

Matthew Parris hears why David Blunkett has chosen Louis Braille, the 18th century French boy who blinded himself in his father's workshop, as his great life - with the help of guest expert the RNIB's Kevin Carey.Producer: Maggie Ayre.David Blunkett discusses the life of Louis Braille.

36

09

P D James By Val Mcdermid

20150602

20150605 (R4)

Val McDermid believes crime writing is most definitely a suitable job for a woman. She believes women are good at observing the minutiae of life and incorporating them into clue development. Despite writing a book entitled 'An Unsuitable Job For A Woman' PD James evidently through the same. Val McDermid who knew and loved the writer who died last November, discusses her life with the help of James' friend, the literary critic Peter Kemp.Producer: Maggie Ayre.Crime writer Val McDermid discusses the life of PD James. With literary critic Peter Kemp.

Richard Ingrams nominates author and journalist GK Chesterton for regularly being right.Richard Ingrams nominates author and journalist GK Chesterton for regularly being right. With Humphrey Carpenter. From May 2003.The biographical series in which a distinguished guest chooses someone who's inspired their life. Will their hero stand up to intensive scrutiny and merit the description of having led a great life?

Conductor Leonard Slatkin proposes composer Sergei Rachmaninov for great life status.Conductor Leonard Slatkin proposes composer Sergei Rachmaninov for great life status. With Humphrey Carpenter.The biographical series in which a distinguished guest chooses someone who's inspired their life. Will their hero stand up to intensive scrutiny and merit the description of having led a great life? From 2003.

Scott Of The Antartic

20141218 (R4+)20141219 (R4+)

Author Beryl Bainbridge selects explorer Falcon Scott as a hidden romantic.Author Beryl Bainbridge selects explorer Falcon Scott as a hidden romantic. With Humphrey Carpenter and Bob Headland.The biographical series in which a distinguished guest chooses someone who's inspired their life. Will their hero stand up to intensive scrutiny and merit the description of having led a great life? From 2003.

The polar explorer's life is scrutinised by Rosie Boycott and his granddaughter Alexandra.The polar explorer's life is scrutinised by Rosie Boycott and his grand-daughter Alexandra. With Humphrey Carpenter. From 2001.The biographical series in which a distinguished guest chooses someone who's inspired their life. Will their hero stand up to intensive scrutiny and merit the description of having led a great life?

Viscount Slim

20140807 (R4+)20140808 (R4+)

Lord Carrington and Lord John Slim discuss military leader, Field-Marshal Viscount Slim. With Humphrey Carpenter. From 2002.Each week Humphrey Carpenter invites famous people to nominate great lives for discussion.Margaret Thatcher's Foreign Secretary and former Secretary General of NATO, Lord Carrington chooses the overlooked Second World War military leader, Field-Marshal Viscount Slim, who he first met in the Australia of the 1950s.Slim's son John explains how his father was known as 'Uncle Bill' to the men of the 14th Army during the arduous Burma Campaign.Lord Carrington and Lord John Slim discuss military leader, Field-Marshal Viscount Slim.

Vivekananda

20140703 (R4+)20140704 (R4+)

Rabbi Lionel Blue and Gwilym Beckerlegge discuss Swami Vivekananda.Rabbi Lionel Blue and Gwilym Beckerlegge debate the 19th century Hindu missionary and thinker, Swami Vivekananda.The biographical series in which a distinguished guest chooses someone who's inspired their life. Will their hero stand up to intensive scrutiny and merit the description of having led a great life? From 2001.